Dirty Work – Worth a Listen, Not the Money

Maybe you’ve heard of them, maybe you haven’t, but regardless, All Time Low is a band that will be taking the world by storm in the near future. This band has been gaining fans rapidly, and their new album, Dirty Work, their first one released from a major record label, might break open their door to their height of fame.

Forming in 2003 in Baltimore, Maryland, this pop-punk band has one the hearts by many with their music, and their humor. Starting out as a cover band for pop-punk bands (most notably Blink-182), they eventually progressed into writing their own music, which got All Time Low (abbreviated to ATL much of the time) their first record-signing with Emerald Moon Records in 2004, where they produced their first EP, The Three Words to Remember In Dealing with the End. Sometime in July 2005, they released their first studio album, titled The Party Scene.

In 2006 (Valentine’s Day, to be exact), All Time Low signed with indie label Hopeless Records, even before they’d graduated high school! Taking their songs from their debut album and adding two brand new ones, they developed their second EP and their first one with Hopeless Records, Put Up or Shut Up.

So Wrong, It’s Right, their second full-length album and first one with Hopeless Records, released in 2007, brought forth pop-punk gems that made it All Time Low’s most commercially successful album. On July 7th, they released their third studio album, Nothing Personal. It became the band’s best sale week as well as their highest charting album. Sometime in November 2009, it was revealed that the band had signed with their first major record label, Interscope Records. There was much deliberation surrounding when the band would release their new album, but it was finally dropped on June 7th, 2011, with the title Dirty Work. This album is their third full-length as well as their first one on Interscope Records. Critics have given their newest album mixed reviews, praising some songs and frowning with contempt at other ones.

I’ve recently had the opportunity to go out and listen to this album, and let me tell you, there’s a reason why this album got mixed reviews. I commend All Time Low for going out and experimenting with their music as any artist should, but this experiment spiraled out of their hands and out of control. Here’s a track-by-track relay of All Time Low’s latest album, Dirty Work.

Do You Want Me (Dead)? 3.5/5

Immediately, the title was eye-catching to me and it held a lot of promise to the song for me, because the first impression comes with the album covers, and then the song titles, and this song title left a good impression. Sadly, this impression left after listening to this song. The start of the song was amazing to me, it was a mellow sort of beat to me, and I soon found a smile on my face by the first five seconds of the song. The lyrics are decent enough and easy to follow (although difficult to understand if you’re like me and your hearing is not exactly top-notch), with chorus lines like “I’ve got my hands up/I’m staring down the barrel of a loaded night/I’ve got my hands up/So do you want me/Do you want me dead?” with “Yeah, oh’s” and the like in the background. It’s a relatively strong-sounding track, although not the greatest if you’ve had a taste of some of their other music. The bridge saved this song, with it gaining power and it led to a beautiful finish for the song. This song is definitely worth a listen, for it brings in some of the old listeners and captures the attention of the new with the first few seconds. This song is bound to be a fan favorite for anyone who picks up this album.

I Feel Like Dancin’ 2/5

The title is great, but that’s the best thing I can say about this song, other than it’s catchy. Just because it’s catchy, doesn’t mean it’s amazing. For a satire song, it’s pretty good, but I just didn’t enjoy it. If I was looking for something that wasn’t supposed to be taken seriously, I’d pop in something by Weird Al Yankovic. Aside from that, I heard the song before the album was released and I’d also seen the music video, which fit the origins of the song well enough. This song pokes and prods at the media and the current music business this day, which I would normally enjoy, but this song I found difficult to enjoy. It’s catchy, though, with easy and simple chorus lines “I feel like dancin’ tonight/I’m gonna party like it’s my civil right/Everybody get kinda awesome/It doesn’t matter where/I don’t care if people stare/’Cause I feel like dancin’ tonight.” Not only is this one of my least favorite song off of the album, but it’s one my least favorite song of theirs that I’ve ever heard. It’s good satire, but maybe I’m just not a satire fan. Although I don’t like this song, it did accomplish what it went out to accomplish; I feel like dancing, albeit reluctantly.

Forget About It 4/5

This title left a good impression for sure. This song, although a bit strange-sounding to me coming from All Time Low, I loved this song and I hope it’s a single. It’s one of those break-up songs that makes you want to get out there and, well, forget about it. This song was so close to getting a 4.5/5, but the bridge, where Gaskarth was speaking, I just didn’t enjoy that bit, it just didn’t appeal to me. However, I’m sure that bit will have oodles and oodles of the band’s female fan-following in a real tizzy. The beat of the song was good, and the lyrics were standard to me. “’Cause I feel/Like a bad joke/Walk the tightrope/To hold onto you. Gotta know/Was it real/Or a love scene/From a bad dream/I don’t think/I can forget about it.” A simple chorus, but it definitely gets the point across in my opinion. It’s an enjoyable track from the album and it’s easy to relate to. For me, it was an extremely subtle poppy nod to So Wrong, It’s Right, which to some people is a bad thing, but I thought was enjoyable. I loved the song and I thought it added a great touch to the album.

Guts 3/5

The title made me think it was a gutsy song about going for what you want and getting the guts to go after what you want, which I liked. With the lead singer of the band The Sounds, Maja Ivarsson, added as a guest vocal, I wasn’t sure what to expect, as I’ve never heard her before. The first few seconds of the song had me curious, but once the vocals started, I wasn’t sure what to think, or whether it would live up to my expectations. The lyrics were amazingly well-written, showing the progress and maturity developing in the band’s lyrical quality. The problem was that it didn’t sound like it was coming from the heart, and with a song like this, there needs to be power and emotion, which was a total miss with this. The chorus, which consists of “Feels like/Breaking out/When I can/Give up my reputation. Finally/I can see/Honestly, I’ve got the guts/To say anything.” It wasn’t empowering like I wanted it to be. The build-up to the bridge was great, but I expected it to be louder, and it wasn’t. Again, there was so much going for this song, that, with a few tweaks, could’ve made this song shine brighter than anything else on this whole album, and because of those little things, it really ruined the song for me.

Time Bomb 4/5

The song title was sweet, I liked it. The beginning was an interesting one, with Gaskarth leading up to the start of the song with repetitions of “Oh, oh. Oh, oh.” The lyrics were impressive in comparison to some of the things I’d heard thus far on the record. It was a catchy song. The sound is poppy, but it’s decent. The lyrics made this song as great as it was, describing a tale of people that appear to be close. It could either be about the band, or just another one of those catchy love songs with soul-sucking beats. The constant bomb metaphors leading back to the title of the song were amazing, especially in the chorus. “It was like a time bomb set into motion/We knew that we were destined to explode. And if I had to pull you out of the wreckage/You know I’m never gonna let you go/We’re like a time bomb/Gonna lose it/Let’s diffuse it/Baby, we’re like a time bomb/But I need it/Wouldn’t have it any other way.” This song was very metaphor-friendly, which I adored, as I love metaphors. Admittedly, it was one of those tracks that was there to fill the album space, but it was enjoyable to me. With a simple chorus and an addicting beat, this song is sure to stick in your head days after listening to it.

Just The Way I’m Not 5/5

When I saw the title, I expected a song about being the person you’re meant to be and making a statement about who you’re not, but when the vocals started (before the verses), I thought of Justin Bieber and I’m not sure why. It’s not a bad thing, because we know that boy has ways of getting his songs stuck in our heads, which is the only similarity between him and this song; it won’t leave your brain. This song conjures up images of summer romances and having a bonfire at the beach around sunset, which is fabulous considering the fact it was released in June. The “Whoa-oh’s” are guaranteed to stick in your head. “Whoa-oh/Never seem to please you, no/Don’t you ever let me go/I know your heart is shut, shut, shut. And you don’t know/Nothing’s gonna change us/Girl, all because I like you just the way you aren’t/And you like me just the way I’m not.” The background vocals in the chorus are catchy and cause the urge to fist-pump for no reason. The bridge stole my heart and summons the urge to hold a lover close and just go out and have a ball. It’s catchy and it’s a great song in my opinion. It fits the summer season perfectly and it’s easy to relate to, with a story of wanting to spend time during the warm season of celebration with someone who likes you, not for what you are, but for what you’re not and that was just a winning track to me that will most certainly be on repeat for the majority of the summer, if not the entirety of the season.

Under a Paper Moon 5/5

The title reminds me of romance, and with the beginning of the song, I wasn’t happy. I expected the vocals to be a little slower when you think of the lyrics, but by the end of the song, I was singing along to some of the chorus lines. With the end of the song, I was surprised and wowed by it. To me, it follows up the vibe of Just The Way I’m Not with the whole shimmery summer feel, a song about just forgetting what’s real and just dissolving under a paper moon. The use of ‘paper moon’ made me smile, simply because of the whole ‘forgetting about everything around you’ aspect I got from the lyrics: “It’s not a real moon, just like the fact that we should be forgetting about real life” sort of thing. This song is a song that makes me smile for sure and one of my favorite tracks on the album, with lyrics like “Me and you, living under a paper moon/’Cause real life just isn’t right/Let’s fabricate. Me and you, living under a paper moon/This real life just isn’t right/Let’s get away/Let’s fabricate.” This song is right on the money, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Return the Favor 5/5

The title makes me think of this song as something bitter, although it progresses into a slower melody than the beginning half of the album. This and Time Bomb are clearly one of the more processed songs of the album, but this isn’t to say it was horrible and are not worth listening to because of how different it is. In fact, it did an amazing job of bringing out Gaskarth’s vocals, which I applaud wholeheartedly. He can sing for sure, and I feel like there weren’t enough songs on this album to show us that. The piano bit at the end of the song won me over completely, for it was a classic ending that I enjoyed. It nodded towards Panic! At The Disco which I thoroughly enjoyed. With a chorus that consists of words like “How do I get away/When you’re begging me to stay/What do you need me to say/You’re anything but ordinary. What do you want me to do/I’ve given it all to you/I wish you would/Return the favor.” Despite that it was one of the weaker songs of the album, I couldn’t help but love it and give it a higher rating. The execution wasn’t as fantastic as I (and the fans) may have liked, but I did adore the song and I felt like it stood out against some of the music on the album and proved to be one of the better songs showcased on Dirty Work. It included a nice little bridge and continued to lead towards the slower half of the album. Plus, it tells a story about a girl we all know.

No Idea 2.5/5

To be completely honest, the song No Idea had no business being on this album. To me, it’s the Too Much of Dirty Work, only Too Much was likable and had more to offer. I liked it, but it wasn’t that good when it comes to lyrics. The beat was just there and didn’t really help progress the song or take it anywhere and the lyrics are one-dimensional. At least it’s got one thing going for it; how easy it is to relate to. It tells a tale about everyone’s ideal crush and the invisibility felt when a person has that monstrous crush. Other than the fact that it’s easy to relate to, it doesn’t really have anything going for it. Again, it’s a slower track and I appreciated that fact, but it wasn’t much, but you know what? It’s still better than I Feel Like Dancin’, but I’m assuming it’s because I’m not a ‘tongue-in-cheek’ person when it comes to music. Anyways, the chorus is easy to catch onto after the first 1-2 times it’s played through the first listen. By the third or fourth listen (if you even listen to this song that many times), I’d assume you’d have most of the song memorized. With lines like “She has no idea/That I’m even here/She has no idea/That I’m even here.” echoed by ‘no idea’ and ‘that I’m even here’ at the appropriate intervals, it’s very rudimentary and takes a step or two backwards as far as musical progress in the band goes.

Daydream Away 5/5

The title makes me want to daydream away; I now want to board a pink marshmallow fluff boat and take a nap while floating in a chocolate syrup river bordered by blue, green, and brown marshmallow rocks, however this song’s meaning is far from an exploding candy-factory experience tale. The acoustic feel of it is a warm, and wholehearted welcome change. The strings in the background add a most beautiful touch to a dreamy song like this one. It produces a few smiles with modern mentions to “douche-bags and their desperate wives” as I’ve paraphrased. This song brings out the urge to slow dance with your partner, similar to Under a Paper Moon, which makes you want to dance with your partner period. It’s a pretty song about doing things that lovers do, but being too afraid to risk becoming an item, something I’m sure we can all relate to. The lyrics “You’re just a daydream away/I wouldn’t know what to say if I had you/And I’ll keep you a daydream away/Just watch from a safe place/So I never have to lose.” perfectly describes how many people feel when they’re too afraid to take the big leap in and/or into a relationship. It’s a dreamy song and one of the best ones on the album that spills of saccharine-sweet sentiment leaving ladies to swoon and dream.

That Girl 1.5/5

We all have that girl that we know; that cunning, manipulative Ice Queen that wouldn’t even melt if she was burning her ugly little tail off in the sun. We all know her, right? Well, this song is all about her, and it makes me roll my eyes. To be honest, I feel like this song, although bound to be a guilty pleasure for some, is a redundant immature song fit for anyone without a brain. This song nearly gave me a headache, to be entirely honest, and I’m seriously starting to believe that I Feel Like Dancin’ is amazing. In fact, That Girl makes the song Friday by Rebecca Black look like an award-winning song. That Girl, plain and simple, is like a lead track for a beachy rom-com TV movie that romantics alike eat up. However, no rom-com fan would be able to tolerate this, I think. This song is pointless and to be honest, I’m starting to love No Idea a whole lot more. With lyrics like “So what am I supposed to do; oh, oh/When she’s so damn cold, like 20 below/That girl, that girl, she’s such a bitch/I tell myself I can handle it. But where am I supposed to go; oh, oh/When she throws me out and it’s 20 below/That girl, that girl, she’s such a trick/But I can’t lie, I’m in love with it.” will have listeners scoffing. Now, while this would be the cue to stop the CD, there’s still one last song left, and I would highly recommend listening to it. There aren’t any nods bratty girls or whiny complaints about the Ice Queen in this form, I promise.

Heroes 6.5/5

This song was the hero of the album and absolutely stole the show. It was an amazing ending, and the best part of this song? This is the most pop-punk song on the album, paying homage to their pop-punk roots. This is the All Time Low from Baltimore that we’ve been missing from this album. This is by far their greatest track on the album. It’s energetic, it’s a subtle nod to the beloved early days of Fall Out Boy, and the bridge was as powerful as it should’ve been. This song is the reason I continue to listen to All Time Low, even when the band changes its sound. This is the pop-punk attitude that throws out everything this band was, is, and will strive to be. It ends the album on a fantastic note and keeps you begging for more, as well as wondering why this whole album didn’t sound like this song. It’s worth hundreds of thousands more listens. The chorus lines “You’re not a hero, you’re a liar/You’re not a savior, you’re a vampire/Sucking the life out of all the friends you’ve ever known. You’re just a train-wreck, not a winner/Up on your soapbox preaching down to the sinners/The saints without a cause, we’re not listening, we’re not listening.” this song does not disappoint and rises above the expectations for the album.

Well, there you have it folks; a track-by-track review on All Time Low’s latest album, Dirty Work. The beginning was rough and there were potential-filled tracks that fell flat and some that were just god-awful, but overall it delivers a relatively good album. It’s nothing new or original, but it’s catchy and it’s got some killer lyrics as well as some awful never-should’ve-been-written lyrics as well. It’s got its good points and bad points, and for the amount of time it took to release it, I wish they would’ve done more work with it. I would’ve rather waited until July to receive the album, rather than get it in June and get something that isn’t really as amazing as it could’ve been. There were loose ends here and there that could’ve been tied or chopped off.

The verdict? I give this album a 47/60, or a C+. Dirty Work was a rough gem that needed more polishing, but it’s an undeniably catchy listen. My expectations weren’t high, and they failed my expectations in some ways, and I know there are going to be disappointed fans, but you can’t always manufacture something new and original with each album. All Time Low took what they had and ran with it, and that’s all there is to it, but there’s certainly going to be several differing opinions. At this point, I only see two major paths the quartet can travel on: A) Keep driving down the road to mainstream success that will probably leave several fans unhappy (most likely older fans, but you never know); or B) Pull an Avril Lavigne and come out with a more personal, meaningful, and worthwhile album that shall be praised to the heavens above. For me, I sincerely hope they take the second path.

Dirty Work is definitely worth a listen, what with its few standout tracks, but not the money it costs to buy the full album, which to me, was amateur at best.