SOUNDTRACK: THE ATARIS-So Long, Astoria (2003) & THE STARTING LINE-Say It Like You Mean It (2002).
THE ATARIS-So Long, Astoria. I am only reviewing this CD because of the circumstances in which I acquired it. Driving out of my driveway this morning, I was surprised by a shiny thing in my lawn. It turned out to be a CD. This one. Indeed, someone had thrown this CD out of their car (I assume) onto my lawn. [Later inspection uncovered two more CDs, one by a band I didn’t recognize and the other a burned CD with no writing on it… I can’t WAIT to see what it is!] So, anyhow, I had not heard the Ataris before, but had heard of them. And the record is okay. It’s sort of generic pop punk, meaning it is really catchy and fairly fast and I probably would have loved it if I were 18. Or maybe 16. This also features the cover of “Boys of Summer” that I remember hearing on the radio oh so many years ago. The only distinguishing feature of the song is they change the lyrics to a “Black Flag sticker on a Cadillac.” Otherwise, not much else of note.
I’m sort of amazed at how many bands there are that sound like this, which leads me to believe that this kind of music must be easy to write. And yet, it seems like all of this kind of music should just be huge sellers. I mean, I’m half way through a 2:30 song, and I already know the chorus and what the next verse will sound like. It’s so easy to play along to, shouldn’t it be easy to write as well? I dunno. I’m also not sure what I’m going to do with the disk when I’m done, maybe I’ll toss it to someone else.
THE STARTING LINE-Say It Like You Mean It. Speaking of this kind of music, the other CD I mentioned above turned out to be this one by The Starting Line. This is similar to the Ataris in that it’s a poppy punk album. It seems effortlessly happy, as opposed to the usual tormented lyrics that bands like this usually have. I liked the music a little better than the Ataris because it was a little grittier and a little less obvious, but only a little. Of the two, this one wins, but not by much.
Sadly, the third disk was a collection of hip hop, mostly Dr. Dre produced acts. After the third song which said “bitch” about 75 times, I gave up.
[READ: May 2007] McSweeney’s #21
As part of my ongoing McSweeney’s reading, I enjoyed Issue #21 very much. As I have said before, I love Roddy Doyle’s work, so any more that I can get from him is always welcome. I have a tenuous connection to Roddy Doyle which is so tenuous as to be nonexistent, but it still makes me root for him all the more. My college roommate was from Ireland, and he had been taught Literature by Roddy Doyle just before he wrote his first book, The Commitments. As I say, no real connection at all, but it was still neat to know a guy who knew a guy…. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 