The Ataris

Anywhere But Here (1997)

tom

The Ataris - amazing. Three full length albums, all lyrically well written and provocative, yet all with a slightly different sound and feel to them. You can literally hear the transition the Ataris make as a band over the course of three LPs.

Now on to the focus of this review: "…Anywhere but here." I purchased this album after having "Blue skies broken hearts…Next 12 exits" for some time. On first hearing "…Anywhere but here," I found it to be pretty good but not amazing. The sound quality was only mediocre and the lyrics were for the most part indecipherable. After about two months I decided to give the CD one more try and to my wonder I realized its full potential. I listened harder to what Kris Roe was trying to say and get across in his songs and looked for their meaning. It was only after this that I realized how genius these lyrics truly are. They are some of the most original love/angst related lyrics i have ever heard. It's twenty tracks hit on a variety of topics in a fast and furious 33 minutes. My favorite tracks include "Hey Kid" with its shout along chorus, "Take me Back," which is about wanting this girl to obviously take you back after you have done many halarious and terrible things to her. "Are we there yet?" is something all punks have experience about getting lost on your way to a show. "Lately" has great similies and metaphors. The only problems I found with this album are the poor sound quality and the somewhat undecipherable lyrics. However these are and can be remedied. "…Anywhere but here" has just been remastered and is supposed to have great sound quality now. It should be out by winter of 2001. Secondly, just paying a little more attention to the songs makes the lyrics a lot more intelligible.

Overall "…Anywhere but here" is an excelent album. If you want heart felt original love lorn lyrics, then this is the album for you. Also it is a definite must for Ataris fans old an new.