All Time Low: Probably More Relevant Than You Thought

Amanda Jagus

Courtesy of Redbubble

All Time Low not only describes my current state during midterms, but is also the band that was every teenage girls gateway drug to pop punk. For better or for worse, ATL made me want to smudge my eyeliner and leave their song lyrics as my away message on AIM.

I most fondly remember ATL as the narrator of the love stories and angst that I definitely couldn‰’t relate to as an awkward and unfortunate high school freshman, and  I’m still disturbed that a bunch of teenagers were jamming out to “Dear Maria, Count Me In‰” which is totally about a stripper. And, while I may have been singing along when it queued up on Spotify, I was not distracted from the fact that this is what feminist nightmares are made of.

Exploring the old works of ATL proved to be more enjoyable than I originally anticipated. Thankfully, I still know all the words to “Weightless” which’s lyrics actually ring more true for me now than they did to me in 2009. This is due in part that I am finally over getting older and in part to the line “Maybe it‰’s not my weekend but it‰’s gonna be my year‰” is basically what every college student tells themselves each Sunday night. What’s more, along with straight up truth that ATL has served up, “Remembering Sunday‰” still makes me want to cry a little (who could deny those butterflies, right?).

All Time Low also has an impressive discography, first appearing on the scene and 2007 and dropping their latest album, Future Hearts, dropping earlier this year. Their most recent tour will be coming to Echostage on November 16th.

Although my music tastes have strayed from the nasally voices and heavy guitar of pop punk, All Time Low has stayed true to their sound while still maintaining a sizable fan base. After revisiting their sound, I have the urge to put in my Skull Candy headphones, walk the halls of my high school and give my classmates the death glare in time to “The Girl‰’s Straight Up Hustler‰” (because, uh, I am). Overall, I give ATL 3.5 checkered vans out of 5 for a pretty enjoyable, angst filled, experience.