On their second full-length, “Nothing Personal”, All Time Low shows no sign of changing their winning formula of summery emo-pop. They still sound resolutely teenaged and excited to be in a band: no songs about tough life on the road, no ponderous power ballads, very little pandering to the latest trends (i.e., Auto Tune) to sweep through the ‘09 emo landscape. The lyrics–including “Damned If I Do Ya”–all revolve around relationships, both broken and blooming, sung by Alex Gaskarth in a voice that skirts the usual emo clichés by being strong and surprisingly non-whiny.
by Mark Emge
