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Rating:
The Ataris: a band that, at least from listening to a few scattered singles, had piqued my interest and led me to listen to this "So Long, Astoria", the fifth album of the band from Santa Barbara, CA. It's a shame that, as it happens in certain cases, the singles do not reflect reality and upon listening to the full opus, one finds something different from the expectations and sensations derived from the beautiful "In this diary" which, after all, finds almost no follow-up on the record.
Before reviewing this aforementioned disc, I also obtained the previous one to see if indeed this "So Long Astoria" had misled me or not. Aside from finding "End Is Forever" to be mediocre as well, I think it would be necessary to make some reflections on the stylistic and compositional differences that exist between the two albums. If the previous album still maintained a certain "appeal" of punk, this record's dimension is definitely rock. Indeed, this is the calmest, most introspective, and most thoughtful album of the Ataris' production. The speed of the rhythm section is halved and Kris Roe's voice is much more softened and calm compared to the past, where it had a certain charge and energy. The guitars scratch less than they did before. Not that the previous one was anything special, since the melody, even if to a lesser extent, was present there too. Let’s just say that this album is the predictable follow-up to the previous work. And that’s not all, for the recording of the album, piano (present in various tracks), synthesizers, and a strings section were used.
Now, a question might almost naturally arise: what led the Ataris to these stylistic choices and changes? A natural sonic evolution or decisions made a priori by the record label, a major (Columbia) for which the four signed?
Personally, whatever the right answer may be is not even crucial, the fact is that we are faced with a work that is really boring: let’s be clear, it’s not that the compositions are so saccharine and vomit-inducing, but the fact remains that they lack energy and episodes (apart from some fortunate exceptions) that manage to get us jumping or excite us.
The first two tracks are already impalpable and anchored to a fixed, predictable, and static pattern, but moving forward, something better is found starting from the nice and previously mentioned "In this diary", which is undoubtedly the best on the CD with its emotional refrain, and "My reply", which features a certain speed and hints at punk influences, although it loses a bit in the chorus. Certainly, the one that most recalls the Ataris of the previous album.
Illustrative of the combo's change is "The saddest song" (featuring piano and strings), which takes us back to the discussion held at the beginning and which is truly terrible.
Among the various "rock" songs (strange that in 13 songs there is not even half a solo though), the only one, if we want to say so, successful and sufficient, which represents the new Ataris, is undoubtedly "Summer '79". The cover of "Boys of summer" in pop-punk version is good, another interesting piece of the collection. The only other songs worth mentioning scrolling through this second part are "Radio 2" with a nice melody, one of the best, and "Looking back on today".
Finally worth noting is the presence of two bonus tracks: the acoustic version of the single "Saddest song" and a new version of "I won't spend another night alone", which practically add nothing new.
What to say, if you appreciated "End Is Forever", you might also like this work, otherwise, leave it alone. An album that in general fails to offer something enticing and juicy and is somewhat lost between ups and downs, proving to be globally mediocre.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 So Long, Astoria (03:22)
It was the first snow of the season
I can almost see you breathing in the middle of that empty street
Sometimes I still see myself in that lonesome bedroom
Playing my guitar and singing songs of hope for a better future
Life is Only As good as the memories we make
And i'm taking back what belongs to me
Polaroids of classrooms unattended
These relics of rememberence are just like shipwrecks
Only theyre gone faster than the smell after it rains
Last night while everyone was sleeping
I drove through my old neighborhood
And resurrected memories from ashes
We said that we would never fit in
When we were really just like them
Does rebellion ever make a difference?
Life is only As good as the memories we make
And im taking back what belongs to me
Polaroids of classrooms unattended
These relics of remembrence are just like shipwrecks
Only theyre gone faster than the smell after it rains
So long Astoria I found a map to buried treasure
And even if we come home empty handed we'll still have our
stories of battle scars, pirate ships and wounded hearts,
Broken bones and all the best of friendships
And when this hourglass has filtered out its final grain of sand
I raise my glass to the memories we had
This is my wish and I'm takin back i'm takin them all back.
02 Takeoffs and Landings (03:53)
On this coldest of January nights,
we'll drive out past the runway,
And watch the planes go flying by.
The runway lights are the deepest blue
Like the colors of your eyes,
So close them tight and kiss me one last time.
If you could go anywhere right now, where would you go,
And would you miss me when you get there.
There's no place that I would rather be.
Please don't let me, go falling from the sky,
This fasten seatbelt sign just needs to go out.
If only you could be, right here by my side,
Home wouldn't seem so far from here.
Passport, customs, carry-on, remember
To shut off all of your, electronic devices.
fell asleep on Tuesday, woke up Monday afternoon
I slept right through your international dateline
If you could go anywhere right now,
Where would you go,
And would you miss me when you get there.
There's no place that I would rather be
Please don't let me, go falling from the sky,
This fasten seatbelt sign just needs to go out.
If only you could be, right here by my side,
Home wouldn't seem so far from here.
Please don't let me, go falling from the sky,
This fasten seatbelt sign just needs to go out.
If only you could be, right here by my side,
Home wouldn't seem so far from here.
Please don't let me, go falling from the sky,
This fasten seatbelt sign just needs to go out.
If only you could be, right here by my side,
Home wouldn't seem so far from here.
03 In This Diary (03:50)
Here in this diary I write you visions of my summer
It was the best I ever had
There were choruses and sing alongs
And that unspoken feeling of knowing
That right now is all that matters
All the nights we stayed up talking
Listening to 80's songs
And quoting lines from all those movies that we love
It still brings a smile to my face
I guess when it comes down to it
Being grown up isn't half as fun as growing up
These are the best days of our lives
The only thing that matters is just following your heart
And eventually you'll finally get it right
Breaking into hotel swimming pools
And wreaking havoc on our world
Hanging out at truck stops
Just to pass the time
The blacktop singing me to sleep
Lighting fireworks in parking lots
Illuminate the blackest nights
Cherry cokes under this moonlit summer sky
2015 Riverside, it's time to say goodbye
Get on the bus, it's time to go
Being grown up isn't half as fun as growing up
These are the best days of our lives
The only thing that matters is just following your heart
And eventually you'll finally get it right
(Get it right)
Being grown up isn't half as fun as growing up
These are the best days of our lives
The only thing that matters is just following your heart
And eventually you'll finally get it right
04 My Reply (04:13)
i got your letter and the poetry you sent me
Postmarked in december of last year
I really hope your doing better
All your friends close by your side
One step closer to recovery
I wish there was something i could say
To erase each and every page you've been through
even though its not my place to save you
I appreciate but cant accept this thank you note
thats sealed with your last breath
and i won't stand aside and listen to you give up
if you'll just hold on for one more second
if you just hold on to what you have
just hold on/ just hold on
You will wake up tomrrow
if you'll just hold on for one more second
just hold on to what you have
if you just hold on/ just hold on
You will wake up tomorrow
these arms remain stretched out to you
maybe someday you'll accept them
maybe its too late to save
a young girls heart thats long stopped beating
wake up wake up you've gotta believe
wake up wake up you cant give up
time keeps going on without us
long after we're dead and gone
i wish there was something i could say
to erase each and every page you've been through
even though its not my place to save you
i appreciate but cant accept this thank you note
thats sealed with your last breath
and i won't stand aside and listen to you give up
if you'll just hold on for one more second
just hold on to what you have
if you just hold on/ just hold on
if you'll just hold on for one more second
just hold on to what you have
if you just hold on/ just hold on
05 Unopened Letter to the World (02:39)
If I died tomorrow would this song live on forever?
Here is my...unopened letter to a world
that never shall reply
If I died tomorrow would this song live on forever??
Here is my� unopened letter to a world
that never shall reply, never shall reply
From this second story window I can hear the church bells
calling out my name. This table is set for one.
Even angels would be homesick in this forsaken town.
On random notes of parchment I'm scrawling my existence,
Dressed in white. This candle radiates throughout the night
And it's never burning out, Never burning out
From this second story window I can hear the children
down on Main Street. They're singing their songs tonight.
In the shadows, I will listen to their every movement.
Mr. Higginson, Am I not good enough for the world?
Am I destined only to die the same way that I lived...
In seclusion.
From high up on this mountain I can almost see
your lonely windowsill. They'll carry you off tonight.
There's a ghost in your old bedroom
And a candle burning bright.
If I died tomorrow
Would this song live on forever?
06 The Saddest Song (04:15)
Only two more days until your birthday,
yesterday was mine.
You'll be turning five.
I know what it's like
growing up without your father in your life.
So I pretend I'm doing all I can
and hope someday you'll find it in your heart
to understand why I'm not around
and forgive me for not being in your life.
I remember waiting for you to come.
Remember waiting for you to call.
Remember waiting there to find nothing at all.
Maybe someday you'll really get to know me
not just from letters read to you.
I pray I get the chance to make it up to you.
We've got a lot of catching up to do.
10 The Boys of Summer (04:18)
Nobody on the road
Nobody on the beach
I feel it in the air
The summer's out of reach
Empty lake, empty streets
The sun goes down alone
I'm drivin' by your house
Though I know you're not at home
I can see you
Your brown skin shinin' in the sun
You got your hair combed back and your sunglasses on, baby
And I can tell you my love for you will still be strong
After the boys of summer have gone
I never will forget those nights
I wonder if it was a dream
Remember how you made me crazy?
Remember how I made you scream?
I don't understand what happened to our love
But baby when i get you back
I'm gonna show you what I'm made of
I can see you
Your brown skin shinin' in the sun
I see you walkin' real slow and you're smilin' at everyone
I can tell you my love for you will still be strong
After the boys of summer have gone
Out on the road today
I saw a BLACK FLAG sticker on a Cadillac
A little voice inside my head said, "Don't look back, You can never look back."
I thought I knew what love was
What did I know?
Those days are gone forever
I should just let them go but
I can see you
Your brown skin shinin' in the sun
You got that top pulled down and that radio on, baby
And I can tell you my love for you will still be strong
After the boys of summer have gone
I can see you
Your brown skin shinin' in the sun
You got that hair slicked back and those Wayfarers on, baby
I can tell you my love for you will still be strong
After the boys of summer have gone
12 Looking Back on Today (03:54)
30th of April, seems like yesterday
Bought a house above the ocean
Where our kids could laugh and play
I called you from Paris
To tell you that I
Wrote our names on the observation deck
Of the Eiffel Tower
Remember those nights playing summer wind
on the jukebox of the bar we used to go
We made out in the bathroom
and you walked me to my house
I try to convince you not to go home
If only I had more time
I'd take you where you wanted to go
Italy isn't the same without you here
If only I had one wish
I'd want a million trillion life times that I could spend with you
I'd Fall in love with you again and again
First of November 1998
I was thinking of what to say when I would call
Denise come over to my house cause you're the one for me
We'll drink cheap wine and watch for shooting stars
Remember our first apartment
Our couch was never big enough for two
Still we'd fall asleep in each other�s arms
and wake up on the floor
Now looking back it was made for me and you
If only I had more time
I'd take you where you wanted to go
Japan is really nice this time of year
If only I had one wish
I'd want a million trillion life times that I could spend with you
I'd Fall in love with you again and again
13 Eight of Nine (03:55)
These hospital walls are the palest of white
Here in this desert they're reciting my last rights
The smell of these halls brings temporary comfort
As oxygen flows through my blood
El Coraz�n was poisoned tonight
She's on her 8 of 9
When half of all your prayers are insincere
The other half are lies
Here is this watermark under this bridge
The point where it crested
Rolled back and drifted into the sea
I climb from this wreckage
As the smoke begins to clear from my lungs
The closest of close calls has happened tonight
It's time that I made things right
for the first time since the last time
Let this moment of clarity
lift this curse that has been cast upon me
So appreciate the good times,
but don't take the worst for granted
Because you only get so many second chances
14 I Won't Spend Another Night Alone (03:49)
A star up in the sky goes slowly passing by
The lights below...they spell out your name.
You're comfort on my mind and you're with me all the time.
And lots of feelings that I can't explain.
I won't spend another night alone.
I won't spend another night alone.
Out of every girl I meet, no other can compete
I'd ditch 'em all for a night with you.
I know you don't believe you mean this much to me
But I promise you that you do.
If I had one wish this is what it would be...
I'd ask you to spend all your time with me,
That we'd be together forever.
We'd buy a small house in south central L.A.
Raise lots of kids then we'd both join a gang
Just as long as we're together.
The things you make me wanna do
I'd rob a quik-e mart for you
I'd go to the pound and let all the cats go free
Just as long as you'd be with me.
I won't spend another night alone.
I won't spend another night alone.
...Yeah....
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By death bad music
This "So Long, Astoria" sucks.
Bands that fool people like this should be banned from the Planet and prohibited from recording any more albums.
