All Hours – Everything in Between Review

All Hours, the breakout pop-punk band from Brisbane, Australia, with an already impressive list of accolades from the likes of Alternative Press and Guitar World, are here with their debut album Everything In Between. Pulling inspiration from pop-punk heavy hitters such as Paramore, A Day to Remember, Blink-182, Silverstein and Sum 41, I was keen to check out what this band had to offer, so let’s dive right in.

Everything In Between kicks off with the opening track, The Last Dance, where we’re instantly thrown into a track reminiscent of early 2000s pop-punk with palm-muted power chords, fast-paced drums, and vocalist Dani O’Grady’s almost Paramore-like vocal delivery. We’re then thrust into the song’s hook just 30 seconds in; it comes at you pretty quick, and it’s a rush. All Hours aren’t letting us wait around before giving us a taste of exactly what Everything In Between is set to deliver. It’s upbeat, bouncy, anthemic pop-punk to a T.

That’s the first thing you’ll notice with this album; it’s stacked full of catchy hooks. The aforementioned opener and the third track, Jumping Out Of Windows, are littered with earworm choruses, which also at times feel a little cheesy. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; pop-punk wouldn’t be pop-punk without a bit of cheese (pizza), and I can imagine it makes for a fantastic live show, but with repeated listens, there’s only so many more times I can hear “So wake me up when the last dance is over“.

There are moments where this album feels a little cliché and cookie-cutter pop-punk, but then the band switches it up a bit with some killer post-hardcore riffs, with O’Grady hitting you with an impressive scream. All Hours do manage to effortlessly tiptoe between preppy pop-punk and grittier post-hardcore, and their heavier tracks are ones I found myself gravitating more toward.

While I think we’ve come a long way from the time when we’d compare almost any female-fronted pop-punk bands as sounding like Paramore, I feel All Hours wear that comparison on their sleeve, as Everything In Between does give me All We Know Is Failing vibes, and I think fans of Paramore‘s earlier work could definitely get behind All Hours.

At the production helm are ex-A Day To Remember‘s Tom Denney and ex-Amity Affliction‘s Troy Brady, both of whom have given the oomph this album required to really pop, especially during the band’s heavier songs such as the title track Everything In Between. The drums also have that A Day To Remember punch, which I enjoy.

I definitely feel like All Hours are a band you need to see live to really appreciate these songs, as they ooze the energy you’d expect from a live performance, plus the catchier pop-punk anthem songs are definitely going to be big crown pleasers. I can tell a lot of emotion has been poured into this album with lyrics that touch on anxieties and the ephemerality of teen romance. I just, at times, feel the deeper lyricism is hidden behind cheesy choruses.

Overall, Everything in Between is a palatable pop-punk album that ticks all the right boxes that fans of the genre will fall in love with. For those looking for something a little heavier, there are elements there, too, but not as much as I’d personally like.