The Past, Present and Future of All Time Low

"Take Cover" by All Time Low track review

Following their seemingly successful concert documentary Straight to DVD released in 2010, pop punk band All Time Low have recently announced they have been filming the long anticipated sequel. Straight to DVD II: Past, Present, and Future Hearts is scheduled to be released on September 9th of this year. This documentary bundle consists of the documentary itself, the Deluxe Version of Future Hearts (with some exclusive, never released songs!) and their live concert recorded at the SSE Arena Wembley in March of 2015. Various pre-order bundles are available for purchase on their web store to go along with the DVD.

If you preordered the album on iTunes, you instantly received a download of the live version of Something’s Gotta Give, the first single from their latest studio album Future Hearts. A week before the expected release, All Time Low made a surprise announcement about the pre-release of the new song featured on the DVD. They tweeted that the unreleased song Take Cover would drop at midnight, but knowing the All Time Low fandom they quickly found a way to listen to it before the clock struck 12. The hashtag #TakeCover quickly spread over Twitter and many other social media sites and there was an overwhelming amount of reactions to the new track.

If you need to know anything about the All Time Low fandom, it’s that they are very passionate about... everything. In many ways this is a fantastic quality for a fanbase to have, and All Time Low has seen immense support from the Hustlers the past 13 years. But unfortunately, with the good comes the bad. Ever since the release of Future Hearts in April of 2015, some fans made it very clear that they were unimpressed by the seemingly new sound of this album compared to the last ones. Many of the older fans favor the sound they held back around the release of their second and third studio albums So Wrong, It’s Right and Nothing Personal. A huge issues a lot of the Hustlers have is that they’re worried the band is abandoning these original roots from their old albums and evolving into a more pop sounding band. These opinions emerged again the night Take Cover was dropped. Because the track is noticeably different than the band’s older ones, many fans were worried the sound of the old All Time Low they know and love would be gone forever.

The track follows suit to a few on Future Hearts with a more electronically and synth based into. You then immediately recognize lead singer, Alex Gaskarth’s distant vocals leading into the first verse. At this point the song has a lower, darker feel than many of their previous tracks but in the same sense it has a few similar instrumental lines. The electronic beat continues to carry the song with some steady pop-like drum beats that kick in during the first verse. The chorus is a bit more upbeat than the verses and it has a catchy hook to it. The repetitive use of “Oh” may be a reason it reminds us of a more mainstream (or dare I say 5 Seconds of Summer) like pop, but the more you listen the more it fits into All Time Low’s signature sound. But surprisingly unlike many of their past songs, Take Cover barely has an main guitar driven lines or riffs in the track. It mostly consists of electronic sounds and a steady drum beat. And for a band who strive off of their live performances with catchy guitar lines, it wasn’t a typical sound for them. Lyrically, this track does fit into the Future Hearts theme quite well. Not the strongest lyrics All Time Low have ever written but definitely not the weakest.

Overall this new track is not so much a let down, but more or less what I expected. As it is the last track to close out the chapter of Future Hearts, I do see it fitting in with that concept. I am a bit relieved that it’s most likely not a piece of what the next album will sound like. In no way was the track a disappointment, it just seemed like the band was trying to appeal to a different audience with this one. It definitely has many more pop-rock sounds than their older, guitar led pop punk songs. My biggest problem with track is the lead up - or the lack thereof. It almost seems as the lower vocals and melodic keyboard sounds would eventually lead into a larger guitar break, but unfortunately I am left still waiting. If you’re a fan of All Time Low’s more electronic and vocally driven songs, you’ll definitely love this one.

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