Drawing heavy influence from Green Day and blink-182 early on, pop-punk quartet All Time Low formed in the suburbs of Baltimore, MD, in 2003 around singer/guitarist Alex Gaskarth and guitarist Jack Barakat. The two soon added bassist Zack Merrick and drummer Rian Dawson to round out their energetic pop-punk sound and rowdy live show, which often included silly string and beach balls. Honing their skills between homework and other teenage commitments, the guys managed to tour across the East Coast and South during school breaks.

Finally done with schoolwork to concentrate full-time on music, the group issued Put Up or Shut Up -- a seven-song EP that mostly featured new recordings of older material -- that July. Now able to tour freely, the band supported the release on a handful of summer Warped Tour dates before subsequently hitting the road nationwide with Amber Pacific.

"Mayday Parade writes songs that bring out the addict in all of us. Their catchy pop vocals, slap-in-the-face lyrics and bright, uptempo melodies are enough to send you to rehab for OD'ing on their debut album, 'A Lesson in Romantics.'"
--AOL Music PopEater Music Blog