REVIEW: Future Hearts//All Time Low - Their Hearts Are On Their Sleeves

3.5/5 Stars

Waves to Watch: Don't You Go, Tidal Waves

Genre: Pop punk

Goes great with: Blink-182, Yellowcard, State Champs

Inevitably, any pop punk act will begin to deviate to pop and neglect punk, but All Time Low have taken a U-turn back into the punk side of town after their 2012 release, Don't Panic. These four boys from Baltimore had to grow up at some point, so why can't it be now? On their fifth - arguably sixth by some - LP, Future Hearts (Hopeless), All Time Low, comprised of vocalist/guitarist Alex Gaskarth, guitarist Jack Barakat, bassist Zack Merrick, and drummer Rian Dawson, are now the veterans, long past the time of being the newcomers around the likes of Blink and New Found Glory. 

With this new found dominion over their scene, the four-piece pay their respects to those who reigned before them with a hearty blend of eminent pop punk influences, ATL's own clever juvenility, and the recruitment of producer John Feldmann. The harsher-sounding "Kicking & Screaming" is laden with a Blink-ish character, coincidentally hinting that they're not forgetting what (or who) made them who they are. 

The quartet of singles, led by the zombied-out "Something's Gotta Give", were intimations into a new sound, with their mature boyishness still intact. The anthemic "Kids in the Dark" is, in fact, an anthem for their fans, who are such rabid a fanbase that their dedication deserved an equally neon song. "Runaways" is an odd blend of sounds, from claps to swinging bells, capturing the idea of being stuck and taking the chance to leave it all. 

The final of the singles, "Tidal Waves", features an appearance from mentor and Blink co-founder Mark Hoppus (FINALLY), ebbing and flowing like a slowed-down ocean. Joel Madden (ex-Good Charlotte, Madden Brothers) adds a dash of his current project's sound to ATL's pop punk charisma on "Bail Me Out". 

"Don't You Go" is the most pumped-up out of the thirteen, reminding listeners of the dawn of pop punk in the early 2000's. Paired against the folky, acoustic "Missing You", Future Hearts becomes a fusion of sounds, sometimes colorful, sometimes a little bit dowdy. The best indicator of this falls upon "Cinderblock Garden", another mismatched love story that sounds like a handful of the other twelve songs thrown together. Gaskarth's voice, however, shines brightest, saving the track from the grave. Sadly, the bulk of the album does not flex his lyrical prowess as past releases have done. "Satellite" is an understated first song, meant as a short introduction, as well as a look into their past as "just kids". What it does best, perhaps not the intention, is show off Dawson's prowess behind the drum kit on any song he kicks into. 

Oddly enough, "Dancing with a Wolf" and "Odd Scars/Future Hearts" are both evocative of Fall Out Boy's - arguably the biggest band to come out of the scene in the past fifteen years - sound circa 2007. Along with the majority of the songs on Future Hearts, particularly "The Edge of Tonight", these two tracks sound as if they could fit along with Top 40 radio just fine. Perhaps it is time, after all these years, for All Time Low to relish some time in pop radio's limelight.

On a highly anticipated U.S. tour nearly underway, All Time Low will be bringing out old international friends, Tonight Alive, along with promising rookies ISSUES and State Champs. For old fans, there will not be a shortage of classics, and for new fans, there will not be a shortage of bras thrown onstage at Barakat, as he jumps around like sugared-up toddler. Future Hearts is steady at best, but once the songs come to life on bigger stages, anything goes for All Time Low. And that means anything.

Future Hearts will be released worldwide on Hopeless Records on April 7th

//Angelia//