This Alltime Low
Reasons for Misery; Reason III
‘Interesting facts about Chester: Chester, UK. Population: Approximately 120,622 Longitude: -2.92 Latitude: 53.2 120 FT above Sea Level.’ If you think I’m taking the piss, this is actually a statement made on the Chester Tourist Office website, which goes on to tell us about the nearest motorways and number of acres of land. Now I’m no Trading Standards Officer, but I reckon there’s an oxymoron in that statement… and This Alltime Low agrees. Having formed a band to escape the boredom of their home town, they should know.
Opening with the gnarly tones of the title track, angsty vocals, tuned down guitars and throbbing bass is the order of the day. Some neat riffs lead the way with the vocal piping out a fairly thin melody with enough shred to suggest a diet of sharpened cornflakes and tune enough to prove there’s talent on offer.
‘Full Circle’ has a better vocal hook to add to the dashing guitars which have some moments of supreme flair in this song. The only problem is that it doesn’t really go anywhere. The verse melts into the chorus and the bridge carries things on with barely a variation between them. The drummer introduces a bit of variety, but it just isn’t matched elsewhere.
Final track ‘Cuts’, kicks off with a guitar solo before cracking open the A-esque verse. The guitars then become very rhythmic, leading up to the distinctive chorus. This is the better of the three tracks, straying furthest from the dirge and making a decent attempt to be a recognisable song in it’s own right.
This Alltime Low are offering some dark melodic rock – very much along the lines of AFI and The Used – and they are actually very good at it. The songs need a few more surprises because they come across fairly samey, despite the lashings of talented musicianship. Throw in some changes of pace and some climbs and falls in volume and they’d be ten times better.
Written by Smith on
