So Long Astoria

'So Long Astoria' is the fifth full length album and the first major label release for the Ataris. Continuing on from 2001's 'End Is Forever' the band tone down the pop-punk sound of earlier recordings, and opt for a more emo sounding record, similar to bands such as Get Up Kids, Jimmy Eat World, and Further Seems Forever.|

Kris Roe, leader of the Ataris, would seem a little young for nostalgia, but So Long, Astoria (its title referring to Astoria, OR, the town in the 1985 film The Goonies) is his musical version of a memory play, a series of reflections on his youth in the late '70s and '80s. Roe, who grew up in Anderson, IN, and moved to Santa Barbara, CA, to pursue his rock & roll dreams, reminisces fondly about adolescence in songs like "Summer '79" and addresses his own young fans in "My Reply." The Ataris' fourth full-length album of new material and their major-label debut on Columbia Records, So Long, Astoria is, musically, a collection of speed punk tunes, similar to the work of Green Day and blink-182. Roe's lyrical identity makes the band's songs stand out; his sentimentality stands in contrast to the music's aggression. Includes a cover Don Henley's "The Boys of Summer" as a punk anthem, revising the famous line about the "Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac" by referring to Black Flag instead. ~ William Ruhlmann