The Ataris
So Long, Astoria

THE REVIEW

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.