They have released six studio albums: Dead Ends and Girlfriends (1999), Last Stop Suburbia (2002), Before the Blackout (2005), Countdown to Nowhere (2010), Life Behind Machines (2012), and 20 Years and Counting (2019).

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 following year, the band added Kyle Lewis (guitar) – formerly of Showoff, Now She's Gone, and The Fold – and Mike Leverence (drums), formerly of PARR5.

In 2006, the group was invited to a two and a half-month tour of Japan with Japanese band Ellegarden, with whom they had become friends while playing together at the SXSW music festival in Austin, Texas.

At this time, the group released a cover EP titled Guilty Pleasures, on which Murphy sang half of the songs in Japanese.

As such, Allister decided to go on hiatus following one final Japanese tour that the band had already committed to in the spring of 2007 – for which former Allister member Chris Rogner took his brother's place – and a final farewell show in Chicago at The Metro on 20 July 2007, at which Tim Rogner returned to perform.

The pair met in Los Angeles in 2010, and soon began writing and recording an album of original songs sung in Japanese.

Allister announced their intention to reunite in the spring of 2010, and the band broke their hiatus at the Bamboozle Festival in Chicago on 2010 May 15 at the Charter One Pavilion.