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Rating:
What should you expect from an album that already boldly features plagiarism?
A semi-flat group and a totally insipid and emotionless album. Kris Roe's voice isn't enough to elevate the whole thing if your songwriting teeters between more energetic tunes close to a highly polished melodic hardcore and easy punk surrounded by pop, and the level of the melodies isn't even at the crystal-clear level of the competition. Early My Chemical Romance, for example, might be a bit crafty to some, but there's no comparison.
The opener "Giving Up On Love", also the only or almost the only salvageable episode along with "You Need A Hug", is also where the plagiarism I mentioned at the beginning of the review is evident. The main guitar riff is the same as the track "Hey Suburbia" by Screeching Weasel, a historic punk rock band from the late '80s and early '90s. The only track that completely changes stylistic register is the final acoustic ballad "Hello And Goodbye".
The production is by Joey Cape of Lagwagon, while the album has the Kung Fu Records label, owned by Joe Escalante, a member of the punk-rock band Vandals.
I've read several times the tag emocore associated with the Ataris, without even understanding the real basis for this attribution. Certainly, a few sporadic screams are misleading.
Zero originality and clichés galore, and it can't even be said that it is a frivolous album but capable of entertaining and amusing, far from it. On the contrary, it's a prelude that anticipates problems, major lineup changes, the future contract with a major label, and another disappointing chapter, "So Long, Astoria" of 2003, which nonetheless will open the doors to a large fan base at least in the North American market.
Soulless. End is forever?
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 Giving Up on Love (02:53)
these last few weeks
I've been confused
sometimes I wonder if
I'm better off alone.
you fall in love
then break your heart.
you fall in love again
its never ending.
I used to have this friend
who took his fiance
to see billy idol
a couple weeks before
their wedding day.
the chick got backstage
and left my friend outside.
next day she called
from a hotel
asking for a ride.
I guess I'm giving up on love (x3)
'cause it really kind of sucks
uninspired
and growing tired
why am I always
so attracted to drama?
so here I am
grown up at 23
will someone tell me
what it takes to be happy?
I play in my band
and write a lot of songs
about relationships
and how mine went wrong.
maybe I'll meet that special
girl along the way
then she'll break my heart
and leave me crying.
i guess im giving up on love (x2)
cuz it really kind of sucks
i guess im giving up on love
cuz it really kind of
03 I.O.U. One Galaxy (02:00)
stars are out tonight
and you're the brightest one shining in my sky.
it's like every wish I ever made came true.
the day I woke up lying next to you.
will you be my best friend
if I offer you my heart?
'cause it's already yours.
we could hang out every night
and watch the sun go down
as long as we could watch it rise again.
gave me a valentine.
it's these little things that stand the test of time.
I've saved the tickets from the shows that we've been to.
and a thousand other memories of you.
will you be my best friend
if I offer you my heart?
'cause it's already yours.
gave you this i.o.u. today.
it said good for one galaxy.
once I build my rocket to the stars.
we'll fly away just you and me
04 Bad Case of Broken Heart (01:58)
today I'm missing something
in this small new england town.
here's to you my best friend.
just wanted to say that I miss
having you around.
I'm staring at your picture
and dreaming that I could hold your hand.
we'd walk down to the ocean
and I would write your name in the sand.
they say sometimes you need some time apart
but I've got a bad case of broken heart.
and you're the only one who's got the cure.
and I can't live another day without seeing you smile.
2000 miles between us and I guess that I'm the one to blame.
relationships and heartaches,
these two things are one and the same.
the radio plays a love song.
I smash my fist right through the dial.
here's to the broken hearted.
a generation born in denial.
(Spoken)
Ya know there's a million fine lookin women in the world dude but all of em don't bring you lasagne at work most of em just cheat on ya..
10 You Need a Hug (03:49)
maybe you should work for "sick of it all"
or get a job with the l.a.p.d.
did someone switch your ritalin with ephedrine?
Just don't take your fucking problems out on me.
I'd buy you a little fuzzy bunny
I'd put you on my christmas card list
if you'd promise not to take your job so seriously
and realize you don't have to be so pissed.
fuck you dick
life ain't all that bad. life ain't all that bad.
even if henry rollins is your dad.
life ain't all that bad. life ain't all that bad.
buck up little camper, don't be sad.
maybe you could go hunting with ted nugent
and see how many animals you could kill.
I'd pay all of my friends just to hang out with you
and take you out to sizzler for a meal.
I'd take you to my favorite karoke bar
and you sing "let the sunshine in".
you could stomp my ass into oblivion
but that doesn't mean I'll put up with your shit.
life ain't all that bad. life ain't all that bad.
even if henry rollins is your dad.
life ain't all that bad. life ain't all that bad.
buck up little camper, don't be sad.
life ain't all that bad. life ain't all that bad.
even if henry rollins is your dad.
life ain't all that bad. life ain't all that bad.
buck up little camper, don't be sad.
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