The Ataris: more entertaining than the retro game system

By Shana Dines
DAILY BRUIN REPORTER
[email protected]

The classic Atari game system went out of style a long time ago,
but up-and-coming punk rockers the Ataris bring the old feel back
with loud guitars and screaming, harmonized vocals.

The Ataris will be playing in Campus Events’ next
installment of free noon-time concerts in Westwood Plaza today. The
band loves playing college shows, but is especially excited about
today’s. The concert has a special meaning to them, as today
marks the re-release of their first studio album, “Anywhere
but Here.”

Having started in Santa Barbara, the Ataris played their first
shows at fraternity parties and other college events. The
uncertainty of college shows is what makes today’s show a
reminiscent return to their roots.

“You never know what’s going to happen, so
that’s kind of exciting in a good and a bad way,” said
bassist Mike Davenport. “Frat parties were the only shows we
could get and sometimes people were into you and sometimes they
cared more about the keg than the band.”

In ’97, Davenport and his band mates, lead singer Kris
Roe, guitarist John Collura and drummer Chris Knapp, recorded their
first album, not knowing anything about the ways of the music
industry world. At the time, they had no idea they could choose
their own artwork, let alone make any other decisions about the
production of their CD. The album was recorded with the entire band
in the studio at the same time and resulted in less than desirable
quality.

Davenport and his band mates felt it basically sounded like a
demo.

By re-recording the album this year, the Ataris were able to
layer the music, record it separately, and add depth with second
vocal harmonies and guitar melodies. Musically, the new, special
edition “Anywhere but Here” album is in the same vein
as the band’s four other studio albums. It had always
bothered the band that their first album was not up to par with
their other work and now that it is being re-released in augmented
form, the members could not be happier.

Despite the five-year gap between the time they first wrote the
album and now, according to Davenport, the music has not lost its
relevance. Though they are still categorized in the pop-punk genre,
“Anywhere but Here” is the only one of their albums
that can be accurately pigeonholed.

“I would say we’re much more diverse than
pop-punk,” Davenport said. “If anything, we’re
more of an indie-rock band, especially the way that we’ve
been heading with each record.”

Since the beginning, each of their albums has showcased some
kind of musical growth and increasing maturity. The Ataris’
last album featured a good deal of strings on it. There was also a
lead by a slide guitar on one track. Davenport reflected that, as a
young artist, he could never have imagined putting out an album
with a slide guitar on it.

“I think any band that’s gonna survive, any artist
at all, if you’re gonna survive in the music industry, you
have to grow and change,” Davenport said.

Fans of the Ataris should know this fact well. Although the
albums may sound like pop-punk, the live show has its roots in
something a little more sinister than that. Those students who are
not familiar with the Ataris’ music should expect a truly
hard-rocking show.

“There’s a lot of smashing guitars and blowing over
amps,” Davenport said. “We’re very much a rock
band live, and that’s why we can go play with Pennywise and
the Vandals and all those bands. We’ve never been afraid
to.”

To those who know and love the Ataris, the show today will have
some new things to offer old fans. Anyone who saw their show at
Long Beach Arena last week will know what to expect, but at UCLA
they will be given an entire hour for their set. The show will
include four new songs from their upcoming Columbia Records release
and at least four songs from “Anywhere but Here.” They
will be playing more songs from their first album than they have in
five years. Of course, they will play all the favorites from their
other albums as well.

Always intent on pleasing the crowd, the Ataris have never lost
sight of the most important part of a band ““ its fans. At all
of their shows, not excluding today’s Westwood Plaza
performance, the band members can easily be found afterwards to
talk and sign merchandise. The e-mail addresses of each member are
available on the band’s Web site and in each album so that
fans can contact them. The band promises to be quick with their
responses.

They even own their own record store in Santa Barbara, called
Down on Haley. When not touring, they are always working and
hanging out at the store. Davenport encouraged fans to stop by
anytime if they really want to get a feel for the guys who make up
the Ataris.

Though many people still long for their original Atari systems,
and this band does not offer the eight-bit fun of
“Pac-Man,” “Pong” or “Space
Invaders,” their hard-rocking, yet poppy-punk-at-its-core
sound attempts to provide a viable alternative to that
retro-fun.