All Time Low — Nothing Personal

All Time Low could well be any other post-Infinity On High pop punk band. Like so many of their peers the Maryland quartet mix dance beats with crunchy guitars, heavy breakdowns and that whiny voice. With everything in just the right place it would be so easy to dismiss the band. But even the most ambitious of bands in the genre are rooted by the same conceits, so if you like one it's difficult to shun the rest outright.

Letting down your guard is key if you're to appreciate Nothing Personal. Every bit of my cynical music reviewer body wants to just rip this juvenile group apart. But then I remember back to summers driving around town with the windows down, blasting Blink-182 and New Found Glory records and I can't help but get nostalgic. All of a sudden lyrics like "There's nothing surgery can do/when I break your little heart in two" don't seem so stupid.

All Time Low may not be pushing the boundaries of the genre, but they do the genre's conventions so well, it'll take a true misanthrope to ruin what aspires to be nothing more than a fun summer record.

Get it from