Posts Tagged ‘The Ataris’
So Long Warped Tour
In the vast bleakness that is a Canadian winter, any reminder of summer is a welcome distraction from the blowing snow and brown slush. So every year when the first bands start to sign up for Kevin Lymans annual cross country summer camp known as The Vans Warped Tour, the reminders of bright summer days, and cramming twelve hours of music into one day are enough to sprout wood.
This year was no different. The original list of bands was a veritable who’s who of my ipod’s top played list. So needless to say as I scrolled through the list the wood in my pants quickly turned to a wet spot. Too gross?
Thrice, Underoath, The Ataris, Chiodos, Senses Fail and P.O.S., were just a few of the bands I was totally stoked about seeing. The issue became, that, as usual, the Toronto line-up ends up looking nothing like the list of bands announced, as no Ataris and no Thrice made it north of the border.
Add to that the fact that the glory days of Warped Tour in Toronto ended the day that Molson Park was sold for condo land and the tour stop became a parking lot out by the airport. Gone was the ability to relax in the grass under a tree when you had a few minutes with no bands playing. Gone were the dirt warriors. The often shirtless pit monkeys, their faces wrapped in bandana’s and caked in the dirt that made up the ground that became the pit in front of each of the six stages.
I guess I’m saying that charm of warped tour has faded, and been replaced by a gaggle of neon clad suburban crunk bands, sing-rapping over shitty electro beats and the occasional riff.
I’ll admit right out, that due to work, I didn’t make it this year, and to tell you the truth I wasn’t that sad about it. It didn’t make me look bad fondly on a few things like the ghost of Warped Tour past.
The real benefit of Warped Tour is finding new music. It’s true that most years you could fill your days with established bands, but venturing outside of that could throw open the doors on a band you otherwise would never have known you loved. For me the best example of that is The Matches. With time to kill between Protest the Hero and Thrice, I wondered over to the Hurley stage and saw a young band, the lead singer’s hair going in all different directs, in a pair of short pants, and angle wings, stomping around the stage in giant boots. Two songs in and I’ve been a fan ever since.
There was the year that, Ill Scarlet pulled their infamous stunt and played the line up outside of the venue, until Kevin Lyman eventually let them inside.
There were innumerable sets by Funeral For A Friend, Thrice, Killswitch Engage, Protest the Hero, Atreyu and others that were heard but not seen due to the giant cloud of dirt blocking the stage, as the pit went off.
There were the giant circle pits, and patriotic moments where Billy Talent seemingly out drew every other band on the tour, despite the fact they suck.
Looking back now, it’s hard to tell whether it’s because I’ve changed or because Warped Tour changed, but it’s obvious that we’ve grown apart, and we will never have what we once did. I guess I should just give it up, admit that I’m old and shell out a couple hundred bucks the next time Coldplay runs through town………fuck that. I’ll never be old enough to like the whiney, British, piano driven sap that Chris Martin and his butt buddies churn out. But all the same, I’ve outgrown Warped Tour, and it’s a sad, sad thing to realize.
The Matches – Papercut Skin
Protest The Hero – Turn Soonest To The Sea
Thrice – Deadbolt
Aaron’s List Second Half of 2009 Releases
The first half of 2009 has brought us a recession, due to people trying to live beyond their means, a pandemic, due to people living too close to those beyond their species and a slew of decent releases. Of those releases only one, Taking Back Sunday’s New Again, was apart the list of anticipated albums that I tacked on to the end of my Best Of 2008 review back in December.
So, at this half way point, with some new information, let’s take a look at a few albums that are going to come out in the second, hopefully disease free, half of 2009.
Thrice – Beggars
Due out: October
Thrice’s last release was the very ambitious 4 EP collection The Alchemy Index, that found the band taking the experimentation that began with 2005’s Vheissu to a whole different level. With the four different styles represented on each of the EP’s, it will be interesting to see what road Thrice goes down on Beggars. Regarding Beggars, Thrice front man Dustin Kensrue released the following statement:
“I think we are at most times deluded in thinking that we are totally responsible for our circumstances, but in the end almost everything is beyond our control to a high degree and we can’t even be sure we will wake up tomorrow. Whether you believe that God created you for a purpose, or that the world is governed by blind chance, everything in life is a gift at its core; we are beggars all.”
The Used – Artwork
Due out: September 1st
The Used’s last studio LP was 2007’s Lies for the Liar, a highly produced album, that saw the band stray further than ever from the dirty brand of post hardcore that won them a rabid fan base following the release of 2002’s incredible self titled album.
The Used’s lead singer Bert McKracken had this to say about their impending Artwork “In the past, we’ve always kind of brought pop sensibility into heavy rock, but this is going to be all that much more tantalizing and brutal. Our songs are 10 times messier and noisier than they’ve ever been. This record is about coming to grips with how much you really hate yourself and knowing you can never hate yourself to the full extent, so you’re free to hate yourself as much as you want to we haven’t been this excited about an album since our self titled back in 2002.”
The Fall Of Troy – Still Untitled
Due Out: Fall
At the moment little has been said about The Fall of Troy’s follow up to the entirely original LP Manipulater in 2007 and the long gestating Phantom on the Horizon which began life as the Ghostship Demos before being officially released.
What is known is that Fall of Troy get better and tighter with every release and with Protest the Hero front man Rody Walker on board for a guest appearance, this album will definitely be something to behold.
The Fall Of Troy – The Dark Trail
The Ataris – Still Untitled
Due Out: Summer
One of theses things is not like the others, but out of many of the impending releases, the forth coming Ataris disc is the most intriguing. After achieving a ridiculous amount of success for 2003’s So Long Astoria due to the single Boys Of Summer. Anyone who’s followed the Ataris knows that success didn’t go over well and Kris Roe, lead singer and songwriter, took the band in a completely different direction with 2007’s Welcome the Night, and album that was dark and brooding, but still infused with Roe’s honest and poignant lyrics .
For Night’s follow-up Roe has said that the band will be getting back to their older sound and rumors have even said that the track Fast Times at Drop Out High, from 2001’s End Is Forever will be re-recorded and included on the new disc.
If the only song released so far, All Souls Day is any indication, the band have not entirely done away with the darker edgier sound they were bringing with Welcome The Night, but have instead infused it with some of the pop-punk energy and aesthetic that the band first became known for.
Theses are just a few of the impending albums that could drop in the second half of this year, but if they do it promises to be a bright year coming December and if the rumours of Brand New squeezing a new album into the queue than 2009 could take us into the end of the decade in fucking brilliant fashion.
The important thing to remember about music is that it’s always changing, so get out there and try something new, cause you never know what you’ll like until you’ve heard it.
