Mass Nerder
Epitaph Records
For the past 10 years, All has been terrorizing the speakers of teenagers' stereos and ripping up stages across America. The band's latest effort, Mass Nerder, continues its string of ultra-appealing pop-punk albums.
Mass Nerder contains more stand-outs than the average punk-rock album. From the album's first second through its last, All exhibits an energy and quality that can be claimed by only a handful of other punk bands.
Containing a large percentage of extremely listener-friendly songs, Mass Nerder is seemingly arranged to expose the genre of pop-punk to those who have yet to lend it an ear. The opening track, "The World's on Heroin," rails against the general apathy and laziness that is practiced by much of the world. "I'll Get There" is a particularly tasty pop-punk gem that features a fairly poignant sense of longing.
Other first-rate pop tunes include the first-person tale of a peeping tom, "Honey Peeps," the thoughtful tribute to Kansas City Royals ace, "Vida Blue," and the toned-down punk of "Silence."
Mass Nerder does contain songs that possess less commercial viability. Examples include the more driving, raw tunes "Life on the Road" and "Greedy." This style, though, is far from dominant term.
Nearly every song on Mass Nerder is of exceptional quality. There are few punk-rock albums that can surpass All's latest offering in the category of pure accessibility to the common man. This pop appeal does not spoil its integrity, however.
Mass Nerder works because All picked a vision and stuck to it. The fact that the album has a certain radio-friendly quality is purely icing on the cake.
--Brian Gettler