Perpetually eccentric quartet All About Chad assembled a 14-song collection of lively songs on
Down in Front. The Brooklyn band starts off with the folky "Embarrassing Moments," with references to Star Trek and concert t-shirts. That is quickly followed by the punky and aggressive "You're Too Popular." Ben Reiser wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on
Down in Front. His vocal style is offbeat, yet it works well in a way similar to
Tullycraft's Sean Tollefson's vocals. Silly and playful songs like "Sleepover" and "Meet Me in the Hallway" require a playful vocal style. The bass-heavy "Chad's Driving Me Home" epitomizes the band's relentlessly bouncy and upbeat style. The male-female vocal interplay on "That Would Be Ducky" is an indie pop version of "I Got You Babe." The disc comes to a close with the pop-punk antics of "My Sister Hates the Band," which is reminiscent of some of the punkier Boys Star Library songs. Asif Chaudhri plays guitar, while Chad Pilieri checks in on bass and Jason Schreiber performs drums. By this point, the band had been together long enough to be able to gracefully perform their style of sloppy pop. Big Pop Records released
Down in Front in 1995. ~ Stephen Cramer