ALBUM REVIEW: EVERYONE’S TALKING! BY ALL TIME LOW
All Time Low have delivered a gem of an album with parts of life lyrically examined in forensic detail. The album ‘Everyone’s Talking!’ commences with ‘Cold Open’ detailing years of trauma and life in a band that is now 20 years old and with 10 albums to their collective name. The band, All Time Low, comprising of Alex Gaskarth, Jack Barakat, Rian Dawson and Zack Merrick are reassessing their life choices and status in the opening song ‘Everyone’s Talking!’. The impacts of ageing and technological generational shifts lead to thoughts of self-doubt and disconnection as “something is wrong as no-one is talking to me”. This is a response to the trial by media that affected the band’s personal lives. Their privacy was used as “clickbait” for an event that never even happened, and the apology couldn’t undo the damage.
The following song ‘Suckerpunch’ is about getting knocked down so many times that you learn to wear your bruises like a badge of honour. It is a huge pop-punk guitar and drum mix with added swagger. The song has delicious lines like: “You pour your salt in my cuts and call it ‘seasoning’/
You've got the recipe right/ and now you're eatin’ me alive”. It is a powerful examination of false accusations and the damage that can be done through vexatious spite. ‘No Oh’ is another song that pushes the theme of modern toxicity in relationships in a world where truth is in short supply and the person is a brand. Words and actions cannot unwind the damage done or the heartbreak visited on someone.
‘The Weather’ is a sunnier sounding pop-punk track with a great guitar solo but the subject matter is something else again. ‘The Weather’ is a storm of a broken relationship. When these two people meet the last thing that they should be talking about is the weather, but that is the only topic left when things fall apart. The following song ‘Falling For Strangers’ is a cry for help as the protagonist is only able to find carbon copies “that look like you” to fill the void. ‘Viva Las Vegas Nerve’ is a beautiful mid-tempo ballad with a strong drum kick. The play on words about vagus nerve damage and a time in Las Vegas is funny but laced with melancholy.
The love song about the joy of sex, in ‘Sugar’ (featuring JoJo) is a fun mid-tempo track. The fascinating imagery about the emotions of lust and love makes people “float like a disco ball” as the love interest is the sugar that sticks. The “taste of you is all over my teeth”. The very short song
‘Goodnight, C’est La Vie’ is an acoustic strummed narrative. It is a dark-pop song about two young lovers basically kids. It turns dark fast as the girl’s father shoots the boyfriend. Hmm…Then, there is another love song ‘Bubblegum’ where the protagonist: “I wanna be your bubblegum”. But it is a car crash of life and relationships as the protagonist is looking to be “chewed up” and “spat out” but still wants to “steal your jaded heart away”.
Then, it is back to some great pop-punk laced with Greek myth in the next three songs. In a ‘Little Bit’ the story of Icarus is alluded to as “the dog chasing the cars for the thrill of it” wants to “touch the sun”. The song warns about chasing the next high through wanting-it’s great to be “f**ked up chasing fun” and always “needs a little bit more” as the protagonist crashes to Earth in flames. ‘Cigarettes & Sabotage’ is a warning not to believe your own press as the good times might not be all they seem. Narcissism is probably not a life sustaining path. The fabulous ‘Tread Water’ is like a cry with an echo. The protagonist compares himself to an echo or a wave as the love he wants to cherish “sinks like a stone” under the weight of broken promises. He was no ‘lifeboat”.
The song ‘Different Languages’ is about the distance of time and how the language we speak today is not the same as the past. It is a ballad with an emotive lyrical heart with a dynamic chorus and lovely strummed acoustic guitar. The song is full of reverb echoing that gives the sound its melancholic longing and regret as “love is what you choose to forget”. The album closes with the emotive kiss-off of ‘Butterflies’. It is a warning that sometimes the company you keep doesn’t have your best interests at heart but you continue down the pathway as you “handcuff yourself to rock ‘n’ roll”. It sounds like lived experience. The pop-punk melody is underscored with driving guitar riffs and gunfire martial drumming.
All Time Low have delivered in ‘Everyone’s Talking!’ an album of songs fixed in lived experience that sound like the journey has been painful. The melancholy running through the songs is brilliantly written and expressed through metaphor, imagery and wonderful contrasts. The music and instrumentation are bolder and more refined than past albums. All Time Low deliver the sound of passing out of youth with the facets of life needing a reset and a polish. The songs and music are now reflecting and refracting the wisdom that time brings.
