If you like your pop-punk to sound just like the early The Starting Line songs, y’know, cool as Hell vocals and huge melodies? Well All Time Low are the perfect band for you. ATL are all about the vocal harmonies, mixing up some of the best pop-punk songs you’ll hear all year. There’s no need for mosh parts or breakdowns, this is simply no frills, good old pop-punk. And while it’s a little too obvious to win any album of the year awards, ‘So Wrong, It’s Right’ is a realy, really fun listen.
There are so many highlights on this album. From the gang vocals of ‘This Is How We Do’ to the Cartel-esue lead guitar parts of ‘Six Feet Under The Stars’, this is an excellent album. ‘Dear Maria…’ will probably blow the band up big, but if it doesn’t ‘Stay Awake’ certainly will. And while the band’s slower moments do sound oddly like Cartel (at their best), it’s when the band push the accelerator down a little and really go for it that they sound the best. ‘Shameless’, for instance, is just a lot of fun.
Hopeless have a gem of a band on their hands and while the last remnants of summer may be leaving for another year, this is a record that will brighten up any day of the year.