walking upstream…
All Time Low
photo: drew de f fawkes · cc by 2.0 ↗All Time Low
sourcesBillboard
Formed by teenagers in Towson, Maryland in 2003, All Time Low became one of the defining bands of mid-2000s Warped Tour pop-punk, pairing Alex Gaskarth's radio-smooth melodies with self-aware, party-anthem lyrics. "Dear Maria, Count Me In" and "Weightless" turned them into scene mainstays and, later, a direct influence on the next generation of pop-punk-adjacent pop acts. Gaskarth has said the band started out "chasing after blink-182 and Fall Out Boy and NOFX and the punk scene that we grew up idolising."
the sound in question
2009
WeightlessAll Time Low
walk the tributaries ↓
blink-1821990s–2000s · Pop punk / Punk rock / Alternative rock
Gaskarth has repeatedly named blink-182 as a foundational influence; guitarist Jack Barakat first got him hooked on the band via their live album, and All Time Low's whole vocabulary of fast, melodic pop-punk with joke-heavy lyrics traces straight back to them.
listen: upstream & heresource: Rolling Stone AU ↗
1999
All the Small Thingsblink-182
2007
Dear Maria, Count Me InAll Time Low
listen forPut blink-182's "All the Small Things" next to "Dear Maria, Count Me In" — same breakneck strum pattern, nasal double-tracked vocal, and a chorus built to be shouted back at the band.
Fall Out Boy2000s–2010s · Pop-punk / Emo / Pop rock
Gaskarth has said the band was "chasing after blink-182 and Fall Out Boy and NOFX" when they started out, and All Time Low's move toward bigger, more theatrical pop hooks on songs like "Weightless" mirrors Fall Out Boy's arena-pop-punk playbook (Pete Wentz even makes a cameo in the "Weightless" video).
listen: upstream & heresource: Rolling Stone AU ↗
2005
Sugar, We're Goin DownFall Out Boy
2009
WeightlessAll Time Low
listen forListen for the same big, layered gang-vocal hook and radio-pop sheen in Fall Out Boy's "Sugar, We're Goin Down" and All Time Low's "Weightless."
NOFX1990s · Skate punk / Punk rock
Gaskarth's own list of the bands All Time Low were "chasing after" when they started included NOFX, whose fast, wisecracking SoCal skate-punk gave the young band a template for pairing real speed with pop hooks.
listen: upstream & heresource: Rolling Stone AU ↗
1994
LinoleumNOFX
2007
Poppin' ChampagneAll Time Low
listen forThe rapid-fire strumming and irreverent tone of NOFX's "Linoleum" shows up filtered through a poppier lens on All Time Low's faster, more punk-leaning cuts like "Poppin' Champagne."