Reviews
Allister
Before The Blackout
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Add to del.ico.us.Review Date: 2005-10-24
From what I can tell this is Allister's third CD, which doesn't mean too much to me because I haven't heard anything by them before. Well it's possible that they were on that Vans Warped Tour Compilation but I haven't heard that in forever and thers like 50 bands so after a while it becomes harder to pick them apart. Anyways the point is this is pretty much my first experience with the band Allister. I don't think that I like the name that much, but I'm never that into band names that are based on a real persons name. Let's see, who would I compare them too? A few different bands at least, one would be Millencolin, they do have a similar style to them, but their sound ends up coming off somewhere between Millencolin and Yellowcard. I say this because the lead vocalist reminds me of that Ryan Key from Yellowcard but the music reminds me of a grittier Yellowcard that is more talented and sounds like Millencolin. It's an interesting mix to me, if the vocalist in Allister manages to serparate himself from the whinings of Ryan Key then I can see myself as liking this band more than Yellowcard easily. However for them to top Millencolin would almost be impossible, however I invite them to give it a whirl because I love to have more punk music that is good to listen too. Allister seems like they could be on a verge of a saga, and you would think that would be the case with a band that waited three years between albums before a new release. This album isn't too hardcore but I think that will likely assist me in liking it more since I doubt that the lead singer could take the band into that direction.
The fifth song on the CD just happens to be the one playing right now and it is called "Blackout". This song is one of the darker tracks on the disc, it starts with a heavy build up of guitar and drums with the vocalist working his way into the mix. The song continues in this direction for quite some time, I'll be honest is saying that this isn't necessarily the best song on the CD but it does have a unique structure to the song. They go through periods of building everything up and then they just thrash on the instruments for a while and the lead singers just starts singing passionately over all of this music. There isn't really a chorus, at least not one that I can identify, all in all its one of those punk tracks that you look at and figure that the band got ambitious and this is the result of that attempt. I don't think its horrible but its definitely not really for me, more for someone that is into a little bit of a different punk song. The pacing is moderate, there’s no particular areas where it gets nice and hard or melodic and slow, like I said this song is unique to the album and I just thought that I would mention it since it happens to be the song I'm trying to wrap my head around the most.
One thing that I noticed about this band is that their song names are usually two words or less, there are some exceptions but I just thought it was odd that almost every song title has two or three syllables. The seventh song on this disc is called "2 A.M.", this track is pretty neat its actually one of the more uplift tracks in terms of mood but I can't say the same of the pace. The pace doesn't actually ruin the song, this song reminds me of old Weezer, and when I say old Weezer I mean anything from Pinkerton or before that album. The song is good, it has that "Buddy Holly" feel to it which takes me back to the days of watching Henry Winkler dance like an idiot in that wicked video that they made. The song itself isn't that complicated in sound, it’s just something that sounds nice and is pleasant to listen to, not a typical punk song but it has that fun punk energy and that’s all it really needs.
The first song on the disc I believe is the lead single, its called "Waiting". This song is pretty badass, it starts off with some nice buildup between the guitarist and vocals this is short lived though as they include the rest of the band within twenty seconds. The chorus on the song is really catchy and I think that’s the portion that does it for me, the vocals are also particularly good on this track. Maybe the best that they are over the course of the CD. One thing that I do like is they don't really alter his voice on any of the tracks, which I think is good to show that they lead vocalist actually has some talent rather than rely on the booth production to compensate for the singers downfalls. The good thing about Allister is that they are the kind of punk band that I could see coming to London to play for cheap, so if they ever did come here I would be encouraged to go see them live as long as the price of admission was worth it. This song actually reminds me of My Chemical Romance and the style that they have, so really I'm getting a variety of comparisons with Allister, which if you ask me can't be bad since the comparisons thus far have been to music that I actually enjoy hearing.
The nineth song on the CD, "A Study In Economics" actually reminds me of the Green Day track "Hitchin' A Ride". Well the intro of it does, it has that all to familiar guitar riff that I enjoyed on the Nimrod album. The song isn't a rip off or anything, if you listen to it they beat just has similar sounds to it, but really the riff isn't duplicated. And I'm glad they didn't copy Green Day because the lack of originality would result in a huge point loss for Allister. The song has a ska feel to it, which is good, also showing a lot of range and variety for the band, Allister is a talented band from everything that I can tell, they just have decided to not make a decision about the sound that they would like to stick too. I think that this will end up hurting themselves more as a band because I am of the belief that you need to have an established sound before you go off and get too ambitious about the songs that you guys are going to make. Allister doesn't seem to know what they want to sound like, at least on this album, perhaps with it being their third they kept some of the old and then obviously went in all different directions with a similar core. Since this is the only album I have heard by them I don't have the luxury of comparison, but I don't think that hurts the overall jive that I am getting from this album.
Probably my favourite song on the disc is the twelth one, it is called "The Legend of Pegleg Sullivan". This song has an Aquabats vibe to it, perhaps its the topic matter of the song but the wackiness of Pegleg Sullivan and his adventures that they describe to me is something that echoes Aquabats and their random style. The chorus is all about the feats of Pegleg as he torched a whole city and burnt it to the ground, I mean Pegleg isn't a nice guy but they do tell the tales of his high sea adventures. The supporting music to the vocals is something that obviously completes the package. The guitar is excellent, it has a light feel to it but at the same time it sounds like its punk. I guess with a series of songs that remind of of other bands that I like you can't really go wrong because I'm bound to like some of them if they bare some resemblence to bands that I like. One thing that I think I will do is look at some of the older Allister albums because the truth is that I do find that I might end up liking them more, just I don't know that this is the album of theres that is the best, and without that knowledge I think it will impact their score.
Tracks to Steal: "The Legend of Pegleg Sullivan", "A Study In Economics", "2 A.M.", "Waiting" "Blackout"
How does Allister stack up next to the other punk that I listen to?
Does this need to focus on one sound rather than several?
Judgment Passed
Score: 7.8
I do like this album, I may buy it, but one thing is for sure this album has peaked my interest in Allister and I will probably be investigating into some other albums of theres before the weekend is done. On the whole this album seems a little experimental for a punk group, I think with a bit more work at it Allister could become a nice little band.
- Brandon