Review:

on 2011-02-20 CharlesMartel Said:

Much of the Ataris' early stuff was unashamedly emo. There was a lot of almost panic-screamed attitude which appealed directly to the kids who provided a solid, if unspectacular fan base for the band. That fan base consisted of two distinct elements; the hardcore emo fans and those more interested in pop. Though the Ataris never drove towards the mainstream, the existence of that dual fan base can be heard in two distinct styles on "Welcome the Night" where some songs are clearly intended for US-radio airplay.

Yet "Welcome the Night" is not an album intended to bring the band commercial success. For a start, there are references to the personal problems of Kris Roe and his battles with drugs. Then there were the numerous changes in band members since the release of their debut album, always a sign in my view of musical differences or disputes between band members. It is even said that the Ataris had trouble finding a record label to release it and had to set up on their own, so far from what was expected had this album become.

As a consequence, this is not your standard emo album. As a consequence of that, there is enough here to make this a worthwhile listen.

Generally, the lyrics are of a higher quality than you would normally expect from emo. There is less of the childish nonsense about not being able to get a girl or others of the usual emo themes. On occasions, however, the lyrics do degenerate into something really poor. I have often criticised hip-hop for mangling the English language with inappropriate stresses, well the same criticism can be levelled at "Connections Are More Dangerous than Lies" with its outrageously poorly stressed line, repeated far too often:

"We were such ter-RIB-ble lovers"

Still, when the quality dips, it does so in terms of delivery rather than content.

As for the songs, well, they seem to fall into two neat categories, as befits the split personality of the album. First of all there are pop songs, up-tempo numbers which stick in the mind, such as "Not Capable of Love" and "The Cheyenne Line". Then there are the more personal tracks, those more likely to appeal to the emo fan, such as "Cardiff-by-the-Sea" (is there a Cardiff anywhere else?) and "From the Last, Last Call". Perhaps the best of these tracks is the final one, "Act V, Scene IV: And So It Ends Like It Begins", which co-incidentally is the only one where there is an autobiographical element to the love-lost lyrics.

I haven't explored much of the Ataris' other stuff, and in all honesty I am unlikely to do so. This album contains enough material to make it interesting, but not enough to make me want to delve deeper into their back catalogue. The album sees the band on the cusp of breaking out of emo stereotypes. They will lose a few of their hardcore teenage fans over this one. But if losing part of their original fanbase makes them a more adventurous, less formulaic outfit for the future, as this album shows they can be, then it may be worthwhile coming back to take another look at their work in future.
Rating: 6/10