All Time Low – Backstreet Serenade (2013)

A mid-tempo melancholy song about falling out and back in love is the perfect soundtrack for a montage of grown men running around town in different animal costumes, right?    Well, if those grown men are the members of pop-punk band, All Time Low, then the answer is absolutely!

The video for ‘Backseat Serenade’ features the members of All Time Low frolicking around town, through a park and to an arcade dressed as dogs, fish, octopi, cats, dinosaurs, just to name a few.    These humourous shots alternate with footage of the band performing their hit song in front of arcade games.

On its own, ‘Backseat Serenade’ is one of the highlights from All Time Low’s latest album, Don’t Panic.    It’s a sweet love song, while still fun enough to picture people dancing to it in a club or at a party; but also able to imagine concert-goers waving their cellphones and lighters back and forth to at an All Time Low concert.

The video serves the song well.    At first watch the costumes seem random and unnecessary with the whole video seeming a bit of a joke.    However, after a few watches, it seems as if the costumes are all symbolic – the guy is in a relationship where he unable to be himself and is unhappy (hence the costumes and the ‘whack-a-mole’ with the band members in the arcade).    He soon finds true love and is able to ‘be himself’ and take the costume off for the first time in the video.

Overall, the music video for ‘Backseat Serenade’ is amusing and enjoyable.    It is a perfect representation of All Time Low as a whole –  silly and crazy, while still being genuine and sweet.

By: Lisa Severini