Golden Mixtape

When All Time Low released their major label doomsday, Dirty Work, it was a POP rock record with one too many songs that made me think I was listening to some lost Backstreet Boys tracks. That would’ve been awesome if I wasn’t expecting my guilty pleasure, this generations’ Good Charlotte. Where had those boys gone who made me play for the other team (musically) when I fell head over heels for a girl named Maria? They didn’t sellout, that’s a stupid term used by people who think it’s 1991 and Nirvana on MTV is the worst thing, ever. All Time Low simply left Hopeless for the big time and the big time didn’t fit too well, so they then headed back to their roots and that’s reason enough to calm down, so Don’t Panic and be sure that their new record is far from Dirty Work, but lands somewhere in between that record and where they were when they started.

Don’t Panic, for me, was split into three parts; instant favorites, ones that’d grow on me and ones that’d led me to hit skip every time. Let’s start backwards, shall we?

“So Long Soldier” starts with so much potential as I thought my iTunes went berserk and I Call Fives “Someone That’s Not You” had started. Musically, it’s on pop punk point. Lyrically, it’s obviously singer, Alex Gaskarth’s tale, but it fell short. I didn’t feel it and even with some help from Bayside’s Anthony Raneri, this wasn’t a biography that needed to be repeated. Another that should’ve had more of a punch was “The Irony of Choking on a Lifesaver.” With that Fall Out Boy like title, I went in expecting a lot and left with little. “To Live and Let Go” didn’t even register on my attention meter. It was too much of a radio single trying too hard.

Now when I say it’ll grow on me, I mean if I hear it enough live…I’ll love it more. In that case, I hope on their fall “The Rock Show at the End of the World” tour that we’ll be hearing “Outlines.” Whether or not Jason Vena of Acceptance will be there every time, might be too much to ask, but maybe he’ll pop up once. Jason actually makes this song one to want. He’s got a little soul in him that made me think of Patrick Stump (FOB again?). Plus, “Outlines” has a clap part that was made for a live set. Okay, now one can’t do a review on this album without shouting out the boys’ ode to their hometown, “For Baltimore.” It screams “encore song.” It won’t close a set, but I bet five bucks it’s one of the last three they play every night.

Time for the goods…Lead single “The Reckless and the Brave” was a hit all summer on Warped Tour and was the perfect choice for a first single. It’s a song reclaiming their being, music and future. After their whole Dirty Work oopsy, this song had to be done and sounds like the bands musical sigh of relief. As much as it pains me to say because I’m the last person on Earth who thinks Cassadee Pope (Hey Monday, now The Voice hopeful) is credible, she doesn’t hurt “Backseat Serenade.” All Time Low know they’re heartthrobs amongst the teen crowd and shit, if I was 15, this track would make my heart flutter even more than it already does.

“Somewhere in Neverland” deserved a little extra attention. Not just because it pays homage to Peter Pan, but because it shows the band recognizing the fact that the fans they had when they started out are growing up, and they’re growing with them…In a way. This song is about hitting adulthood and not wanting to. The phrase “forever young” is scattered about this story of someone wanting to run away with someone they love, and leaving the reality of being a grown up to be that person’s “everything better plan.” While a lot of recent records are about people who’ve been adults for a while and hating it, this song shows the person who just reached 18 and is barely seeing the real world for the first time.

Don’t Panic is a lot like life, there were parts I loved, parts I learned to live with and parts I wish would go away. But again, like life, it’s different for everyone. The song I hated most might be the one you cherish till the day you die and the only way to find out which songs you’ll side with is to pick up All Time Low’s Don’t Panic, out October 9^th on Hopeless Records.