All Time Low – Put Up Or Shut Up

Is it just me, or do labels seem to be signing bands that are younger and younger? It’s weird, but the more I read bios, the more it says how the band is either still in high school, or just graduated or whatever and they are already to go out on tour and release their debut on a renown independent record label. There’s no doubt that MySpace is playing a huge role in the emergence of young bands, as labels are trying to find the next big thing. Sadly, it looks as if Hopeless Records have jumped on that bandwagon of signing extremely young bands with their newest discovery, All Time Low, who are set to release their new EP in July.

In reality, All Time Low is your basic pop-punk band that was so popular a few years ago, and well, still is pretty popular in certain groups. They sound like Fall Out Boy, although with more of a pop-punk feel without the emo-ness, mainly due to the fact that singer Alex Gaskarth’s vocals are a almost an exact replica of Patrick Stump’s signature style – particularly on Coffee Shop Soundtrack and Break Out! Break Out!. There aren’t any real surprises throughout the album, what you get on the opening song is the same as you get in the closer, and everything in the middle. The biggest surprise is the label. It would fit better in The Militia Group or possible Drive-Thru Records‘ roster than that of Hopeless Records. Because while Hopeless Records have released some amazing pop-punk bands in the past (Diggerand Samiam being two that come to mind), All Time Low is a little too poppy to seem like a natural fit for the album. Instead of being the rougher pop-punk that Hopeless grew up on, Put Up Or Shut Up fits more into the category of radio friendly, MTV pop-punk that so many people love to hate.

Really, it’s not that Put Up Or Shut Up is a horrible album or anything, it’s not. It is an enjoyable album, and any pop-punk fan will like it, but it does lack that staying power that a good album needs to survive and can be a tad generic at times. But Put Up Or Shut Up shows that the band has great potential to be pop-punk stars in the underground, and with one catchy hit, they’ll take over the airwaves. Give them a few years without the worry of high school bothering them, and they’ll be able to follow in the footsteps of bands like New Found Glory and make a pop-punk album that actually stays with the listener, but for now Put Up Or Shut Up doesn’t quite put out enough. That, unfortunately, is the problem with extremely young bands sometimes.