The Ataris – Welcome the Night
Sanctuary Records (released 2/20/07)
Pop-Punk/Indie
Last night I saw one really unpleasant movie. It was The Last Kiss with Zach Braff and a bunch of other whiny men. It was two hours of men bitching about how their life sucks, how they feel trapped, and how there is no longer any excitement in their life. And in the end, basically it said it was okay for men to bitch and cheat as long as when they are done sowing these oats, they do what is right. Why is all of my entertainment turning into late 20-something men complaining? The same could be said for the new album by The Ataris. An ageing punk-pop (I really didn’t think this genre could exist) band that complains about failed love and how much life sucks for an hour of your time. Not to get on a high horse, but it seems to me that men of my age seem to bitch all the time. They feel that the world owes them something for no reason whatsoever. Their wives and girlfriends all are hard-working ladies, slowly climbing whatever ladder they have chosen for their life, while the men themselves carp about not having gotten promoted within a few months at a new job even though they aren’t trying very hard. This album is a reflection of that attitude.
There is something so blessed about young teens in a band singing songs about how high school sucks and that no girls like them. There is innocence in those songs because every teen feels that no one understands them and when you listen to the songs you are taken back to when you felt that way. When The Ataris sing in the same angst-ridden emo manner it’s just sad. Most people use the high school football star that continues to hang around the school post-graduation to revel in his disappearing glory as the archetype for the inability to move on. The same can be said for the garage band that opened for the opener for Offspring and has been singing the same songs and writing about the same themes ever since.
To believe that The Vandals discovered this band astounds me. They have the tritest, grumbling lyrics I have ever heard. Their song titles, like “Not Capable of Love”, “Whatever Lies Will Help You Rest” and “Begin Again From the Beginning”, are laughable parodies of songs The Smiths would have thought up and discarded quickly. One would believe that a band with seven members would have talent in at least one area of their music. Don’t get me wrong; I love for music to depress me. This album couldn’t even do that. I guess I feel a little depressed that these yahoos have a record contract, but that is more of an existential complaint.
A proper allegory for this album can been seen on the band’s MySpace page. The entire album is streaming on the site and the first song has (as of this writing) 375,388 listens. That is quite a lot. That number quickly plummets in a Black Friday stock market approach with the final track having a play count at 4,387.
All in all, if you are in your 30s but are still trolling the roller rink for high school chicks to buy beer for with the intention of take advantage of them, only to start weeping to yourself silently while they blow you… this is the album for you. The singer’s voice sounds like a 14-year-old girl getting her first period and the overzealous, overdramatic band orchestrates the momentous event when this singer becomes a woman.
Suggested Tracks:
If for some masochistic reason you still feel like listening to this band, here are the tracks that sounded good if I tried to not listen to the lyrics.
“The Cheyenne Line”, “Connections Are More Dangerous Than Lies”, “From the Last”, “Last Call”
Rating:
WHILE WE’RE ON THE SUBJECT…
Kimya Dawson – Remember That I Love You (2006)
This artist has no similarities to The Ataris in any way; in fact she may be the antithesis of them completely. I bring it up because I have noticed in the past two years that I am enjoying albums by women far more than by the men who bitch and moan about the same girl problems for twelve songs. Female artists are writing songs about life, philosophy and our purpose on this earth… actual provocative material. While men complain about how unfair life it, the women agree but do something about it. It is that proactive-ness that makes for an interesting song.
She chants beautiful, acoustic songs about the war, her dying mother, and our complete insignificance on this planet. It is the album to listen to when life is getting you down and you want to climb out of the pool of self-loathing. Sure, life sucks, now what are you going to do about it?
Suggested Tracks: “Loose Lips”, “I Like Giants”, “My Mom”
“William, It Was Really Nothing” – The Smiths, from the album Hatful of Hollow (1984)
Now this is how you write a depressing song about being stuck in the cycle of self-loathing. How can you pass up lyrics like “How can you stay with a fat girl who’ll say/ Oh! Would you like to marry me/ And if you like you can buy the ringâ€?
