Album Review: All Time Low - 'Wake, Up Sunshine'
A dazzling ray of light from the Maryland foursome offers a brief glimmer of hope in the monotony of our lockdown lives.
All Time Low are, safe to say, rather iconic as a band. From that instantly recognisable cough at the start of the anthemic ‘Dear Maria, Count Me In’ — sadly not part of the song live — to their slew of gold and platinum albums and singles, along with a multitude of various awards and accolades, All Time Low are quintessential pop-rock at its best. And recently, they seem to have been living their best lives... Present lockdown situation notwithstanding.
UK wise, they triumphantly headlined Slam Dunk 2019, celebrating the anniversary of their sophomore album, ‘Nothing Personal’, which they shortly after rereleased, with updated versions of each song recorded at Red Bull Studios. Then, between their strings of sold out shows across three continents, the foursome managed to find time to relocate to a rental house in the Palm Desert, where they promptly banged out twenty-five songs, which were quickly whittled down to fifteen, for this, their eighth full-length studio album, ‘Wake Up, Sunshine’. They even managed to debut the first two singles at two (unsurprisingly sold out) intimate shows, at London’s The Garage and Leeds’ Brudenell Club back in February with a coffee morning crammed between the two.
But enough of that. This isn’t an All Time Low bio; this is an album review. So, without further ado, onto the album.
The album is like a car mirror out in the blistering and sweltering Summer heat. It’s gleaming, shiny, and new. Like with said mirror, it’s not something that you necessarily want to find yourself staring at, blinded by it’s often oversaturated brightness — yet you’re glad it’s there when you need to bask in its light.
Admittedly, that metaphor may have gotten away from me.
But in essence, it’s a great album. The moments can vary in greatness, like with any album, and a handful of songs will undoubtedly be abandoned in the ‘forgettable and never played live’ basket, but, from start to finish, the album is a breath of fresh air. And, unlike your government mandated daily walk, you can listen to this as much as you’d like. Some songs might be a little much in their giddiness, yet each is fundamentally incredibly enjoyable.
“This is an amalgam of all of our albums,” Alex explains. “It has pieces of every record we’ve ever done sprinkled throughout. It speaks volumes to who All Time Low has always been. The four of us know each other better than ever.”
This idea of this album being a sort of mashup of All Time Low’s history makes more and more sense the more you listen to it. From the instantly anthemic opener ‘Some Kind Of Disaster’, with its clean guitars, acapella crescendos and layers upon layers of reverb, or the tongue-in-cheek lyrics of second single Sleeping In, to the career-summing Clumsy — described by Zack as “basically everything All Time Low has been for the past 14 years, just a more mature version” — it’s stereotypical All Time Low. But, as well as being a mashup of their past, it also manages to cram different styles into their distinctive shape. Glitter and Crimson or Summer Daze (Seasons, Part 2) for instance, wouldn’t look out of place on a country pop album. Their shares optimism and gently strummed guitars contribute to a chilled out song that could probably work on a Taylor Swift album as well as they do on Wake Up, Sunshine.
Elsewhere, songs like Monsters, featuring a sublime cameo from blackbear — a personal stand out — add at least a little melancholy in the otherwise eternally happy album. In the case of Monsters, the sardonic, questioning rage in the chorus and the emotionally dark overtone add a welcome moment of balance. Meanwhile, title track Wake Up, Sunshine drags the whole thing back to the present. “Somebody loves you for yourself”, Alex cries; “everyone wants to be somebody else. I just want you to see how good you are”. The track is incredibly self-assertive, reminding listeners to “live for themselves” rather than constantly seek validation. Plus, according to Alex, “[Wake Up, Sunshine] even applies to the story on Last Young Renegade”, thus truly linking the past to the present. “If you treat the last record like a dream, this is All Time Low waking up back in the real world.”
Yet it’s the brilliant closer Basement Noise that perfectly both sums up and rounds out the album. It’s nostalgic and wistful. But more than anything it feels honest, if a little self-depreciating. Written by Alex and Zack about the early days of the band, it paints a picture of innocence. It’s stripped back and vulnerable; you can almost hear the fondness in their voices. “We’re too far gone to turn back now... it’s all for nothing if it disappears”, Alex reveals, the band seeming to drop their seemingly impenetrable optimism for the three short minutes, reminiscing about who they used to be, and leaving Wake Up, Sunshine on a happy yet real note, rather than fabricated, frenzied fun.
The final line of the album being “Just stupid boys making basement noise in the basement” couldn’t be more perfect. If, of course, by basement noise they mean award winning songs to serenade sold-out arenas world wide.
Fifteen songs of pure sunlight to supplement our new lives inside. What more could you want?
Words by James O’Sullivan