The Ataris - So Long Astoria (CD)

All Music Guide

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 fulllength album of new material and their majorlabel debut on Columbia Records, So Long, Astoria is, musically, a collection of speed punk tunes, similar to the work of Green Day and blink182. 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. - Willi...am Ruhlmann, All Music Guide Read more Less