Official Music
Publication on The Web
Representing The Bay
Area
Best Seen with "Explorer"
  
|
|
The Ataris
Born to Rock ! |
.....
The Ataris arrived on the pop-punk scene in an
"emo"-tional way with Anywhere but Here. Echoing the likes of Green
Day, the Ramones, and the Vandals (whose guitarist Warren Fitzgerald produced
the album, and whose founder, Joe Escalante, signed them to Kung Fu), the
Ataris put an upbeat spin on their social instabilities. Kris Rowe sings of
young love gone amok over catchy, bouncy pop-punk in album that's more raw and
pure than later recordings. Recording 20 tracks showed the Ataris weren't
afraid to take chances, like covering the infectious "Boxcar" by
vaunted Jawbreaker. The Ataris, based in California, thier fans were not
disappointed since the band played many old classics that everyone was able to
sing along with. The Ataris gave a stellar performance, ending an entertaining
evening of high-quality punk! The Ataris, one of the most successful
independent rock bands of recent years, have a brand new album, so long,
astoria, the group's eagerly-awaited major label debut on Columbia Records. For
Kris, getting it right means connecting in a real way with the band's audience
and the Ataris are ferociously dedicated to their fans. "We are a very
personal band with our fans," Kris is eager to stress. "We definitely
go out of our way. We take it an extra mile. We write all our fans back
personally, we run our own website personally. We have a kid from the audience
get on stage and play guitar on a song with us every night. We opened up a
record store in Santa Barbara, where we live, so that when we're off tour,
people can come visit us. We even rehearse and practice there so when kids
come, we'll let them jam with us. We listen to the demos kids give us and we've
helped a few bands get signed to indie labels. We want this to be known about
our band: all we are is a bunch of music fans who got lucky and happen to be
living our dream. We are a band that exists solely for the purpose of our
fans." When it came time to find a producer for so long, astoria, the
Ataris chose Lou Giordano (Goo Goo Dolls, Sunny Day Real Estate, Samiam, Paul
Westerberg, Hüsker Dü, Sugar). "I wanted this album to possess
this kind of straight-forward powerpop rock vibe," Kris admits, "kind
of what the Replacements always did. I wanted to make a record that spoke to a
wide audience. Lou had worked with a lot of bands outside of just our
scene." The result is a dream come true for fans of this high-energy
modern rock combo, with the new original songs showcasing the
emotionally-charged Ataris sound while a revved-up rendition of Don Henley's
"Boys Of Summer" gives a full-on jolt of the band's spirited fun. The
Ataris are: Kris Roe (lead vocals/guitar), Johnny Collura (guitar/vocals), Mike
Davenport (bass/vocals), and Chris "Kid" Knapp (drums). The group was
first discovered in 1997 when songwriter Kris Roe passed along his demo tape to
Joe Escalante, bassist for the Vandals and owner of Kung Fu Records. Moving
from Anderson, Indiana, to Santa Barbara, California, Roe assembled The Ataris'
line-up and recorded the group's first full-length offering, Anywhere But Here,
for Kung Fu. The Ataris subsequently recorded an EP, Look Forward To Failure
(1998 - Fat Wreck Chords), as well as the additional Kung Fu albums: Blue
Skies, Broken Hearts... Next 12 Exits (1999) and End Is Forever (2001), each of
which has sold more than 100,000 copies in the U.S. and has achieved similar
sales successes around the world. A virtual touring machine since the band's
inception, the Ataris have shared bills with Jimmy Eat World, Social
Distortion, Blink 182, the Hives, 311, and others. The group has been a main
stage attraction on the Van's Warped Tour and has sold out tours in Japan,
Australia, New Zealand and Europe. " With the release of so long, astoria,
the promise of the Ataris' early indie roots is fulfilled with some of the most
provocative and emotionally powerful rock sounds this continually-evolving
group has ever made. By
Randy Cohen
........This is the Official Rock Publication Web Site
All photos and written material courtesy of Rock Publication
.Copyright © 2003
E-mail at
Rockpub@aol.com
|
|
The*Ataris Consist of:
Kris Roe: Lead Vocals /
Guitar Mike Davenport: Bass / Vocals John Collura: Guitar/Vocals Chris Knapp:
Drums / No Vocals
|
...........2003
