Not long ago, I spent many of my after-school hours in a garage making horrible pop-punk music with my friends. Since those days, pop-punk has always held a special place in my broken, post-teenage heart. Allister’s “Before the Blackout” appeals to this place immensely with its pop sound and songs of heartache and love. But Allister has brought something new to the table with their latest release on Drive-Thru Records, maturity.
With their previous releases, they focused almost entirely on songs of broken hearts (a stable in the pop-punk genre), but this time they’ve shown their growth with lyrics about more than just crying over an Ex. For example, “The Legend of Pegleg Sullivan” tells the tale of the man who supposedly started the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. Even the music has a little more of a rock feel do it, rather than entirely pop-punk. It’s almost as if Allister has purposely created an album that their older fans can enjoy without feeling completely childish. I don’t know about you, but that’s something I can appreciate.
For Fans Of: Mest, Fenix TX, early Green Day