Reviews

In a genre that has been used and abused for decades, it’s extremely difficult to create an album that will stand out amongst the over-elated mesh.  The Ataris’ past albums sold hundreds of thousands and with that they have created a name for themselves that will probably outlive the genre itself. With four years between this release and their most popular previous release, So Long, Astoria, how did this band create even more music in an already overly populated, been-there-done-that style?  Unfortunately, they fell short.
 
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m as much of a fan as the old kick back rebellious punk rock as the next guy.  After all, they helped create the genre that is now beginning to saturate the airwaves.  But there is a lack of energy and originality in this album that causes it to go in one ear and out the other, without a memorable clause, lyric, riff or hook.  Instead of bobbing my head, I find myself struggling for something to grasp onto. 
 
There are a few tracks that I will probably listen to a couple more times before I retire this album into an ever-growing collection.  Their single, “Not Capable of Love,” has its appealing moments, as does “Whatever Lies Will Help You Rest.”  I found that the songs on this album tend to be much slower, almost “emo” if I can be so bold to use that word.  Their last track is probably my favorite on the album, the more balladic “Act V, Scene IV: And So It Ends Like It Begins.”  If I heard this song, I would not expect it to be done by The Ataris. However, it is decently catchy and I will probably find myself humming it from time to time.  I think this song would really come to life with a cinematic music video accompanying it; hopefully the title isn’t a precursor of what’s to come. 
 
The lyrics are nothing spectacular but they have their attractive moments.  The lyrical melodies, on the other hand, are almost identical from song to song, making it very difficult to even tell when one song begins and the other ends.  
 
I give The Ataris an enormous amount of respect for all the work they’ve done over the years and for attempting to bring in a new type of audience with each release.  This record, however, does not accomplish very much, though I would be excited to see what comes next for them.