Allister is a pop punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois. They formed in 1997 and were one of the first bands to sign to Drive-Thru Records. The four-piece band is known for their exemplary pop punk music and their fondness for Budweiser beer.
Allister was formed in Chicago, Illinois under their original name Phineas Gage by high school classmates John Hamada ( vocals/ guitar) and Tim Rogner (vocals/ drums) with Eric "Skippy" Mueller ( bass) in 1996. They soon changed their name to Allister, paying homage to Alasdair Gillis from the Canadian TV show You Can't Do That on Television. Upon being submitted a short demo tape, Drive-Thru Records decided to put out their debut release: a 7 inch vinyl record containing four songs, titled You Can't Do that on Vinyl (1998). Before the end of the year, Allister added another guitarist to the band, so Mueller took over guitar duties while Scott Murphy joined on bass.
In 1999, Drive-Thru Records released the band's full-length CD Dead Ends and Girlfriends with that very line-up. The catchy 32-minute album, which was recorded with a production budget of a mere $700, featured playful yet promising pop punk tunes, along with covers of the Fraggle Rock theme song and the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It that Way". Within the following years, both Mueller and Hamada quit Allister. Rogner replaced Mueller on the rhythm guitar, while Rogner's younger brother Chris filled Hamada's shoes on lead guitar and David Rossi joined on drums.
With the aid of producer Chris Fudurich, the band recorded their second full-length album Last Stop Suburbia in 2002, showcasing a certain degree of growth in the songwriting of Rogner and Murphy. The album featured several fan-favorites, such as "Radio Player", "Overrated" and "Somewhere on Fullerton" (an ode to the legendary Chicago punk venue, Fireside Bowl), though the band had to part ways with both Rossi and Chris Rogner, who would concentrate on his own band August Premier. The band added Kyle Lewis (guitar) and Mike Leverence (drums) the following year.