OTR: The Ataris - Blue Skies, Broken Hearts...Next 12 Exits

[illusionofjoy]

Blue Skies, Broken Hearts...Next 12 Exits was released in the Summer of 1999, making it nearly eight years old. It's kind of hard to believe so much time has passed - I remember this album being released and The Ataris being a fresh band, unlike other bands in my collection like The Beatles, who have always been "old."

There's also something simply "youthful" about Blue Skies, which I suspect is nothing more than a consequence of the songwriting; the subject matter rarely veers from the realm of high school romances. Okay, so it's not deep songwriting, but this is damn catchy pop music mined from the same vein that The Ramones built a thirty-year career upon (time will tell if The Ataris have that kind of longevity, though I doubt they'll have the influence). Borrowing another trick from the original pop-punks, Blue Skies total running time is only thirty minutes, because, to paraphrase Henry Rollins: one more minute would have been too much.

I first encountered The Ataris at WAIH as a mere DJ with no executive board powers (or bullshit). The EP Look Forward To Failure was on the new music rack, and to fill my format obligations, I played "My So-Called Life." The song, a humorous ode to stalking Claire Daines, struck a chord with me and I kicked it into high rotation on my show (at the time, two hours on a Friday afternoon, which was meagre rations for an attention whore like myself).

By the time Blue Skies was released, I had significantly increased my air time at WAIH. I was also friends with the then music director, known on-air as "The Moo-Man." The station had been broadcasting over the summer for the first time that anyone could recall because enough staff members had stayed in town to keep it operating. When WAIH received a promo copy of Blue Skies, the Moo Man gave me the copy to review, ensuring that it would be in high rotation on my show. The label was obviously pleased with how high the CD charted, sending us six "give away" copies - one of which was given away to me.

I confess, sometimes I just want some sonic candy and this album does the trick in a pinch. Most of the songs are just fun little pop gems that don't demand too much but aren't trying too hard to be hits. Frankly, this poor little CD didn't have a chance on the Billboard charts once Blink 182 released Enema of the State in the Fall of the same year anyhow. In any case, Blue Skies remains a happy little memory for me when WAIH was a fresh, untainted experience, I was eighteen years old and unnaturally filled with hope for the future.

And I do especially miss doing my annual anti-Valentine's show where I would play a (censored) version of "The Last Song I Will Ever Write About A Girl," where Kris Roe intones the universal truth that "girls are fucking evil." Damn straight.