Allister – Before The Blackout

Allister are one of Drive-Thru Records few old-school bands left. Formed in 1995, the then small label quickly snapped them up, and unlike a lot of Drive-Thru bands, Allister are one of the very few bands who haven’t either broken up, moved to a bigger label, or have some major fight with the label. And other then some slight lineup changes during the band’s ten years of existent, they have stayed pretty consistent. Their third album, Before The Blackout, proves just that.

Like in the past, Allister have delivered a solid album of fourteen catchy pop-punk songs and although it may not be quite as good, on the whole, as Last Stop Suburbia, Before The Blackout still knows how to have fun. There’s no real frills, no real gimmicks, just straight forward pop-punk melodies. Nice hooks, good harmonies, and choruses that get you singing along after only one or two listens. So really, the CD is just more or less what we had come to expect from the Chicago based band.

While songs like Waiting or Blackout have a slightly darker feel to them than what Allister fans may be used to – more around the lines of Alkaline Trio instead – they still have a good few songs which show exactly why Allister fans have stayed fans for the past decade. A Lotta Nerve, You Lied, A Study In Economics and the incredibly upbeat The Legend Of Pegleg Sullivan are all songs that would fit nicely in the band’s back catalogue because they are just simple, fun, upbeat songs that any pop-punk fan could enjoy.

And while Before The Blackout won’t be gracing many top ten lists at the end of the year, it is still an enjoyable album. It’s slightly forgettable and won’t attract many new fans, but any older fan will find exactly what they are looking for in the blackout.