Though I’ve always been aware of All Time Low they’ve always been a band that flitted around my periphery without ever really grabbing my attention, so when I sat down to listen to their fifth album, Don’t Panic, I wasn’t entirely certain of what I would be hearing. I have to say though, it wasn’t a bad experience at all.
Don’t Panic is an album that shows a band that has been playing together for a while and can move as a well oiled machine. All the parts seem to come together really easily and you get a sound that is tight, polished, and feels effortless. The ease with which the songs move, from one to the next , is really quite notable.
The overall sound of the album is a solid pop-rock. Good up beat tempos, tight harmonies, drum fills and guitar licks in all the right places. Songs like Backseat Serenade, and If These Sheets Were States have the feel of your standard songs of lust and love (respectively). They are very well done variations on a theme though and work well enough to hold my attention. Tracks like The Irony Of Chocking on a Lifesaver, Thanks To You, Paint You Wings…these songs all fit well together and carry the same consistent sound of a band that is having fun doing what they like.
For me, the highlight was the track Outlines. I’m not quite sure what was different about this track that made it stand out to me. It certainly wasn’t jarring in amongst the other tracks, but everything just seemed to hit the right notes for me here. Good drum breakdown moments, solid drumming…it all worked for me.
Don’t Panic, coming in at only around forty minutes, isn’t a long album but rather it seems to be perfect. This album isn’t the next The Wall. It isn’t supposed to be an intense, thoughtful experience. What All Time Low has served up here is a fun album that you can toss on and just dig the hell out of.
