ALL - Allroy for Prez (EP)

(Review) 7/22/07
Release Year: 1988

Bill Stevenson, Stephen Edgerton, and Karl Alvarez are the trio of musicians that have represented the Descendents and ALL for about the last 20 years. Together they propel each pop-punk powerhouse, promoting females, fishing, food, and fun. They also enjoy coffee. They’ve teamed with vocalist Milo Aukerman, the face of the Descendents, since 1987 and have also worked with a few other vocalists since 1988 to create music in the name of ALL. On Allroy for Prez, released shortly after Milo’s second hiatus, the face of the Descendents was changed and mascot Allroy was born; he modified the look of Milo on the Descendents’ Milo Goes to College cover by removing his glasses (revealing spiraled eyes), taking off his tie, and spiking his hair. Though ALL’s image was now slightly different from the Descendents, they would never succeed to differentiate their sound. There have been very few complaints.

Allroy for Prez is an EP exclusively filled with love songs. It’s a damn fine one as well, featuring a novel chemistry between Stevenson, Edgerton, and Alvarez. ALL’s vocalist on the album is Dave Smalley; he’s the versatile frontman of punk bands DYS, Dag Nasty, and Down by Law, emerging in the album as a student of love. His voice strains and lacks confidence, almost unrecognizable when compared to his later work where he sounds like he has taken a few shots of whiskey before approaching the microphone. This innocence only helps the album as this student of love rebukes his former affairs. As for Smalley’s back-up, they get their own time in the spotlight with an instrumental (a trend on some ALL/Descendents albums) that sets up the end of the album. They jam as expected with Stevenson and Alvarez breaking down Edgerton’s heavy riffs, sounding much like the theme song to a zombie invasion of a skate park.

Perhaps with a different song arrangement (the instrumental Son-O-Qua would fit much better at the end of the album) Prez would be just perfect. Speaking of “Just Perfect,” the album opener is the only confidently optimistic song on the album, making Allroy for Prez a very bitter and hopeful release. The bitterness permeates Alvarez’s bass as it playfully bounces over Stevenson’s beats, with a serious grudge from Smalley who resentfully opens “Postage” with the lyric “I want to forget the day we met, and the way I felt inside.” Even with the closer “Daveage,” Smalley painfully remarks “Well count me out of your plans / and you know that hurts me, man…Well I just can't believe / the things you said to me today.” His indignant adolescent tone is condemning and shadows his heartbreak. Through all of the negative vibes conveyed on the album, the best song on the EP may be “Wishing Well,” where Smalley wonders how he’d change the world given wishes that came true. The chorus is driven by Stevenson’s drumrolls and Smalley’s innocuous shouts, giving a refreshing moment on the album that gives Allroy for Prez its luster.

At only 20 minutes, the album is easily digested if needed before taking a final run to the ex’s house to collect your things, or before gripping the insides of your pockets on your way to asking someone out for coffee. ALL is notorious for creating catchy pop-punk, and Allroy for Prez exemplifies their natural ability to entertain the hopeless romantics in us all, however bitter they may be.