Hi and welcome back to No Skips! This week we will discuss one of my favorite bands from middle school, All Time Low. I discovered All Time Low in seventh grade — a very cringeworthy time of my life — where I thought I was the coolest person ever because I listened to “punk rock” music. Looking back as a 20-something-year-old, I find my “emo” stage hilarious and enjoy reminiscing and listening to the songs that comprised the soundtrack of my early teens.
All Time Low has countless singles that are always fun to listen to, like “Dear Maria, Count Me In,” “Jasey Rae” and “Coffee Shop Soundtrack,” but only one album is filled with no skips. Their 2013 release, “Don’t Panic: It’s Longer Now,” and 2015 release “Future Hearts” are almost tied as my favorite albums from the band; however, “Don’t Panic: It’s Longer Now” slightly edges out “Future Hearts” as my favorite.
“Don’t Panic: It’s Longer Now” is the deluxe version of the group’s 2012 release, “Don’t Panic.” While the 2012 version contains many of the same tracks as the extended version, “Don’t Panic: It’s Longer Now” has additional features and acoustic versions of the best songs on the original release. One of those features is Vic Fuentes, the lead singer of Pierce the Veil — another example of the top-tier “emo” bands I enjoyed in middle school. Fuentes is featured on “A Love Like War,” a track that continues to be one of my favorite songs to listen to when I need a pick-me-up. The song opens with a roaring electric guitar melody and continues that melody throughout the track. “A Love Like War” contains the characteristic sounds of pop-punk bands at the time — electric guitar and the recognizable whine-tinged vocals.
Some have described All Time Low as a “mixture of Big Time Rush and Blink-182,” a claim that isn’t totally inaccurate and one that was too funny to not include.
This comparison can especially be seen in “The Reckless and the Brave” and “Somewhere in Neverland.” Both tracks lean heavily into the poppier, commercial side of All Time Low’s repertoire. “Somewhere in Neverland” builds on one’s fear of growing up and having to “adult.” The lyric, “Say goodbye to the halls and the classes, say hello to a job and the taxes” really hits that point home. Alex Gaskarth, the singer, continues singing that “The weekends with old friends spilling into 9 to 5 routine.” As a senior who is facing that “9 to 5 routine” sooner rather than later, this song emphasizes the realities of being a grown up. I didn’t fully understand this song as a 13-year-old but, oh boy, do I get it now. It’s a great representation of what many of my senior peers are feeling as graduation creeps up.
Personally, I don’t feel I’m ready to be an adult with a “9 to 5 routine” — or 7 to 3 since I’ll be a teacher. This song is the perfect track to listen to when you are nervous and apprehensive about the future and reminds me that growing up isn’t necessarily a bad thing. You can be an adult and still enjoy the fun parts of life — as shown in the following lyric, “I’ll say it’s all about stickin’ it out, and trying to feel forever young.”
Other significant tracks on this album include “Canals” and “Paint You Wings.” Both songs have sadder messages that discuss breakups and people leaving, which are juxtaposed with surprising upbeat melodies.
“Don’t Panic: It’s Longer Now” continues with acoustic versions of the album’s most popular hits. Acoustic renditions of “For Baltimore,” “Somewhere in Neverland,” “Backseat Serenade” and “The Reckless and the Brave” are featured on this album and support my stance that this album has no skips. The original versions of these songs were so popular and unskippable that the acoustic versions the band decided to release in this extended version are just the same. These are great, unskippable versions of the band’s most popular songs.
All Time Low is a part of my ongoing appreciation of emo music and a band that soundtracked my early teens. “Don’t Panic: It’s Longer Now” filled rides to middle school and high school study sessions. Now, it fills my car rides to my middle school placement as I wrap up student teaching — which is a kind of an ironic twist of fate.
This album has absolutely no skips and is the perfect soundtrack for when you’re trying not to stress when facing final exams and projects. The album is about an hour long, making it the perfect way to soundtrack two intervals of studying with the Pomodoro Method. So, instead of panicking in the face of great adversity (or final exams), take a deep breath and jam out to “Don’t Panic: It’s Longer Now.”