After last month’s show, Madison has clamored for Chicago pop-punk quartet Allister and has now brought the group back to the Annex.
A standout among the emerging punk groups from the Chicago area, Allister now patiently awaits its imminent, rapid rise to stardom, continuously converting any disbelievers into die-hard devotees. The music, played at near-breakneck speeds, driven by the contagious melody and fierce drumming, leaves you with ears ringing and heart pounding.
Whether you’re at a show or blasting the band’s albums, the boys of Allister will make you eat their dust.
The product of a trio once known as Phineaus Gage back in 1995, the band morphed into a quartet in ’97. The group is now currently made up of vocalist/guitarist Tim Rogner, vocalist/bassist Scott Murphy, vocalist/guitarist Chris Rogner (Tim’s brother and the newest member, replacing guitarist John Hamada) and drummer Dave Rossi.
The group renamed itself Allister, a phonetic ode to one of the teen stars on the cheeky ’80s Nickelodeon sketch comedy show “You Can’t Do That on Television.” Anybody else remember those crazy Canadians getting doused with the green slime?
The humor continued in 1998, once Allister signed with new-school punk label Drive-Thru Records, christening the group’s debut 7-inch You Can’t Do That on Vinyl.
Drive-Thru, which put Allister on its stage at the Vans Warped Tour this past year, also works with bands like Homegrown, Something Corporate, The Starting Line and New Found Glory.
The band released its first full-length, Dead Ends and Girlfriends, in 1999, later testing new material touring in Japan and all around the United States.
The 16 short tracks on Allister’s latest album, Last Stop Suburbia, fly by quicker than you want them to, showcasing the band’s flare for speed-punk underscored by a carefree lightness. The melodies are impossible to forget, and the chord progressions change quickly and dramatically. The vocals, especially the harmonies, shimmer and in no way resemble the whining screeches that make the band’s genre so identifiable.
The album’s final track, “None Of My Friends Are Punks,” sounds intentionally rough, as the band laughs between takes and ends up restarting the song at least four times.
This exuberant tune, the most emblematic of the album’s lyrical content, speaks to timely issues of growing up while trying to maintain youthful ideals: “None of my friends are punks / They’re all working corporate jobs / While I sit here like a slob / They converse with the upper class / while I sit here on my ass.”
Vocalist/guitarist Tim Rogner posted comments about the song on the band’s website, www.allisterrocks.com. He claims, “That’s just one of those songs that you write in like two minutes because you have to get it off your chest. I was driving to a friend’s house, who I hadn’t seen in a long time, and I was thinking that I really don’t have any punk-rock friends anymore. Everyone has either grown up or was never into punk rock in the first place. It’s really kind of sad.”
For Chicagoans familiar with the city’s famous (and soon-to-be-closed) concert venue, the Fireside Bowl, “Somewhere On Fullerton” has a chorus so catchy you’ll be stuck singing it for days. Appropriately, the lyrics describe the feelings about growing up in the suburbs and trying to hold on to that past while embracing an unsure future.
Since its early days, Allister has been intimately connected with the Chicago punk scene, both musically and personally. Through the music, the band continues to preserve its importance.
Allister will be playing an 18+ show tonight at The Annex with Fallout Boy and Don’t Look Down. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m. Tickets are $12 and are available at all Annex ticket outlets.
