So Long, Astoria

So Long, Astoria is the fourth studio album by American rock band The Ataris, released on March 4, 2003. The album's title song alludes to the 1985 film The Goonies, which is set in Astoria, Oregon.

Background

In February 2001, The Ataris released their third album End Is Forever through independent label Kung Fu Records.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In May, vocalist/guitarist Kris Roe revealed that the group would start writing for their next album later in the year.<ref name=AtarisNews>Template:Cite web</ref> In June, guitarist Marco Peña left the group due to creative and personal differences. He was replaced by their guitar tech John Collura, formerly of the band Beefcake.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Roe said Collura "definitely brought us back to [being the] best of friends", as well making them "realize that this band has got a lot of life in it".<ref name=MCinterview/> Also in June, the group contributed a new track to the Warped Tour 2001 compilation, "Looking Back on Today". The band signed with major label Columbia Records in July.<ref name=AtarisNews/> Roe explained: "We wanted to go somewhere where we knew that even if our record didn't do well, that we would have a career still as a band".<ref name=MCinterview>Template:Cite web</ref>

Later in July, Roe revealed that the group would be releasing their next album in mid-2002 and that it would be in the musical style of their second album Blue Skies, Broken Hearts...Next 12 Exits (1999). In October, Roe said the album was tentatively titled Don't Ever Compromise What You Believe. In December, the group said they had 13 songs that they were working on, and were planning to record in March 2002. In January 2002, the group contributed a new song to the Orange County soundtrack. In April, Roe said the group were expected to begin recording in May.<ref name=AtarisNews/> When looking for producers, bassist Mike Davenport said a few names came up: "Lou [Giordano] was always my choice. Ric Ocasek said [']I don't get it.' Mark Trombino told us to keep writing."<ref name=Farinella143>Farinella 2010, p. 143</ref> Davenport pushed for Giordano, "and the minute [Roe and Giordano] spoke, it worked."<ref name=Farinella143/> In early July, Roe said the album would be titled So Long, Astoria.<ref name=AtarisNews/> Later that month, Giordano was enlisted as the album's producer and that recording would finally occur in August.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Recording

Demos were initially tracked at drummer Chris Knapp's house in Hollywood, California. Roe said they "never got anything done" and subsequently went to Orange Whip Recording in Santa Barbara, California to record more demos.<ref name=Atarisbandcamp/> With the aid of Angus Cooke and Thom Flowers, demos were recorded live-in-the-studio with minimal overdubs. Roe said they spent "a lot of time fine tuning" the songs before the album sessions.<ref name=Atarisbandcamp>Template:Cite web</ref> He added that the demos "capture[d] a certain honesty" and toyed with releasing the demos in lieu of recording a proper album.<ref name=Atarisbandcamp/> The group went into pre-production with Giordano, despite him thinking that the songs were "already pretty complete '"as is'", according to Roe.<ref name=Atarisbandcamp/> Recording began on August 19 and ended on November 1. Sessions took place at Ocean Studios in Burbank, California, Grandmaster Recorders in Hollywood, California and Orange Whip Recording.<ref name=SLABooklet/>

Giordano produced all of the songs except for "Looking Back on Today", which was produced by Thom Flowers, Elissa Meihsner and Eric Palmquist. Bradley Cooke, Andrew Alekel and Flowers acted as engineers with assistance from Jason Nelson, Dean Cupp and Dave Ashton. Giordano mixed all of the songs, except for "The Saddest Song" and "My Reply", at Larrabee Studios in Hollywood, California. "The Saddest Song" and "My Reply" were mixed by Jack Joseph Puig. Additional tracking was done by Angus Cooke and Meihsner at Orange Whip Recording, while additional tracking was done by Ashton at Larrabee Studios. Several other people contributed to the album: James Muhawi (piano on "The Saddest Song"), Angus Cooke (cello), Jonathan Cox (programming), and Glen Phillips of Toad the Wet Sprocket, Mike Herrera of MxPx and Tim Pagnotta of Sugarcult (backing vocals).<ref name=SLABooklet/>

Composition

Early in the writing process for the record, Roe found a book that gave him the theme for the album. The book, which was Go Now by Richard Hell, contained a chapter "where he had a quote that said memories are better than life ... I wanted this record to portray, that life is only as good as the memories we make."<ref name=MCinterview/> Roe said the group "focus[ed] on writing good songs [and] straightforward rock songs".<ref name=MCinterview/> Musically, the album's sound has been described as pop punk,<ref name=CMJreview/><ref name=Exclaimreview/><ref name=PMreview/><ref name=Sputnikreview/> pop rock,<ref name=Inkreview/> punk rock<ref name=AMreview/> and rock,<ref name=Punknewsreview/> drawing comparison to Blink-182, Green Day,<ref name=AMreview/> Good Charlotte, New Found Glory,<ref name=Inkreview/> Lit and A, with Roe sounding like A frontman Jason Perry.<ref name=Melodicreview/> All of the songs were written by Roe, except for "The Hero Dies in This One" and "All You Can Ever Learn Is What You Already Know" by Roe, Collura, Davenport and Knapp, and "The Boys of Summer" by Don Henley and Michael Campbell.<ref name=SLABooklet/>

"So Long, Astoria" is about Roe writing songs in his bedroom in Anderson, Indiana.<ref name=MCinterview/> The track was reminiscent of Matchbox Twenty;<ref name=Inkreview/> its name is a reference to the town Astoria, Oregon in the film The Goonies (1985).<ref name=AMreview/> "Takeoffs and Landings" deals with saying goodbye to a long-distance partner.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> "In This Diary", alongside "Summer '79" talk about nights out in town and pulling pranks.<ref name=MCinterview/> Discussing "In This Diary", Roe said he attempted to "encapsulate one of the most fun summers we’ve had".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Roe wrote "My Reply" about a fan who was in a hospital and close to death.<ref name=LVSgame/> "Unopened Letter to the World" details the life of American poet Emily Dickinson.<ref name=LVSgame/> "The Saddest Song" is about Roe's relationship with his estranged daughter and his upbringing without a father.<ref name=MTVOver>Template:Cite web</ref>

"Summer '79" sees Roe reminiscing on days when spent as a teenager sneaking into drive-in theatres and listening to Queen.<ref name=PMreview/> "The Hero Dies in This One" refers to past girlfriends that had been left behind.<ref name=MCinterview/> Collura said "The Boys of Summer" was included due to Roe's nostalgia for it, and "it just kind of fit into the rest of the record."<ref name=MCpath/> He altered one line, switching a reference from Deadhead to Black Flag. "Radio #2" was indebted to "Radio" by Teenage Fanclub.<ref name=PMreview/> Roe wrote "Looking Back on Today" about his wife, and called it the sole relationship-centric song on the album. Roe said "Eight of Nine" is about a number of "really close calls that we've had with death."<ref name=LVSgame>Template:Cite web</ref>

Release

In October 2002, it was announced that So Long, Astoria would be released in March 2003.<ref name=Faderfriends/> On January 12, the group posted the songs "Takeoffs and Landings" and "In This Diary" online.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> "In This Diary" was released to radio on February 11.<ref name=FMQB>Template:Cite web</ref> So Long, Astoria was released on March 4 through Columbia Records.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Japanese version included the bonus tracks "A Beautiful Mistake" and "I Won't Spend Another Night Alone", an acoustic version of "The Saddest Song", and a cover of the Ramones song "Rock 'N' Roll High School".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A music video for "In This Diary" was posted online on March 3,<ref name=AtarisNews03>Template:Cite web</ref> directed by Steven Murashige. Roe said the video was mainly crowd-focused as the group wanted to channel their stage performance and energy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On May 19, "In This Diary" was released as a CD single. It featured "A Beautiful Mistake", a demo of "Eight of Nine", a live version of "In This Diary", and "Rock 'N' Roll High School" as B-sides.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

"My Reply" was set to be the group's next single,<ref name=MTVzapped>Template:Cite web</ref> but "The Boys of Summer" was released to radio on June 3 instead.<ref name=FMQB/> This was a result of the K-Rock and KROQ radio stations playing the track, with others following shortly after.<ref name=MTVzapped/> Collura said the group did not want to release the track as a single. He added that they were naïve to assume it would be released as such, since it wasn't promoted as one, "That was all American radio doing that on its own".<ref name=MCpath/> Roe revealed Columbia Records had warned the band about including the track on the album in the first place as there would be "a chance that somebody's going to put it out as a single".<ref name=MTVzapped/> The video treatment for the song's music video, which was directed by Murashige, was initially intended for "My Reply" until it was adjusted for "The Boys of Summer". Roe said the video was about "the story of a darker summer" and features "a girl trying to let go of a lot of the things she had in the summer."<ref name=MTVzapped/>

The Ataris released their first video album Live at Capitol Milling in July 2003, which featured the music video for "In This Diary" (directed by Marc Smerling), the making-of video, and live performances taken from music video shoot.<ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In August, Davenport revealed a music video had been filmed for "My Reply", but was "so far from coming out".<ref name=MTVOver/> He added, "It's animated, and it's like A-ha meets White Stripes."<ref name=MTVOver/> On September 8, "The Boys of Summer" was released as a CD single. It featured live versions of "Takeoffs and Landings" and "Unopened Letter to the World", "A Beautiful Mistake" and an acoustic version of "In This Diary" as B-sides.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> "The Saddest Song" was released to radio on September 9.<ref name=FMQB/> In February 2004, the band released the live album Live at the Metro, which had been recorded the previous October. In addition to the show, it featured acoustic renditions, one of which was from So Long, Astoria.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Touring

In November and December 2002, the group went on a US tour with Sugarcult, Autopilot Off and Rufio. During the tour, the group premiered material from So Long, Astoria.<ref name=Faderfriends>Template:Cite web</ref> In late December and January 2003, the group embarked on the Australian leg of the Kung Fu Records Tour with the Vandals.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The day following the album's release, an in-store performance was held at a record store in Tempe, Arizona. However, due to 1,000 people showing up, the performance was moved to the Arizona State University campus.<ref>Weingarten 2003, p. 38</ref> In mid-March, the band appeared on Total Request Live and Late Night with Conan O'Brien.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Following this, they toured with the Juliana Theory and Further Seems Forever on a two-month tour of the US.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On May 8, the band appeared on The Late Late Show.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In mid-June, the group performed at KROQ's Weenie Roast festival.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

From June to August, the Ataris toured as part of the 2003 Warped Tour.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On July 11, the group appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The group performed at the 2003 MLB All-Star Game in late July.<ref name=Bill10year/> In August and September, the band embarked on a European tour, with Matchbook Romance.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In October and November 2003, the band embarked on the VW Music Ed Tour with Vendetta Red.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In November, the group went on a US tour with Planes Mistaken for Stars, Vendetta Red, Hopesfall, The Go Reflex and Squirtgun.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The group appeared on The Late Late Show and The Jay Leno Show on December 1 and December 29, respectively.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In February and March 2004, the group went on a UK tour with Planes Mistaken for Stars and Cursive.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In April, the group went on a tour of Canada.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In May, the group co-headlined the RiverFusion festival with Something Corporate.<ref name=MCpath>Template:Cite web</ref> They then played a few shows with the National Trust, which consisted of Roe and Matt Hart of Squirtgun, and appeared at Hellfest.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Reception

Critical response

Initial critical response to So Long, Astoria was very average. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 57, based on seven reviews.<ref name=meta/>

Commercial performance and legacy

So Long, Astoria sold 33,000 in its first week, debuting at number 24 on the Billboard 200.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It charted at number 38 in Australia<ref name=Auschart/> and number 92 in the UK.<ref name=UK>Template:Cite web</ref> "In This Diary" charted at number 11 on the Alternative Songs chart.<ref name=BillAltSongs/> "The Saddest Song" charted at number 27 on the Alternative Songs chart.<ref name=BillAltSongs/> "The Boys of Summer" charted at number two on the Alternative Songs chart,<ref name=BillAltSongs>Template:Cite magazine</ref> number 10 on the Mainstream Top 40 chart,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> number 18 on the Adult Top 40 chart,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> number 20 on the Hot 100 chart,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> number 22 on the Radio Songs chart,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> number 36 on the Mainstream Rock chart,<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> in the US. It also charted at number 17 in New Zealand,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> number 24 in Australia,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> number 49 in the UK,<ref name=UK/> and number 87 in Switzerland.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In August, So Long, Astoria was certified gold in the US.<ref name=RIAA>Template:Cite certification</ref> By November, the album had sold 516,000 copies.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In March 2006, "The Boys of Summer" was certified gold in the US.<ref name=RIAA/> In December 2013, sales stood at 693,000 copies.<ref name=Bill10year>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

The album was included at number 25 on Rock SoundTemplate:'s "The 51 Most Essential Pop Punk Albums of All Time" list.<ref>Bird, ed. 2014, p. 71</ref> They later ranked it at number 97 on the list of best albums in their lifetime.<ref>Napier ed. 2019, p. 52</ref> In December 2013, the band released demos that had been recorded for the album.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In February and March 2014, the group performed the album in its entirety in the US.<ref name=Bill10year/> They were supported by Versus the World, Authority Zero, Drag the River and Gasoline Heart.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> To promote the tour, a short documentary was made in the style of VH1's music documentary series Classic Albums.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In June 2016, the group performed in Australia, playing songs solely from Blue Skies, Broken Hearts...Next 12 Exits and So Long, Astoria.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In February 2018, the group went on a celebratory 15th anniversary tour for the album in the UK.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Track listing

All songs written by Kris Roe, except where noted.<ref name=SLABooklet/> Template:Track listing Template:Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.<ref name=SLABooklet>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2 The Ataris

• Kris Roe – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, moog synthesizer, mellotron
• Mike Davenport  – bass guitar
• John Collura  – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Chris Knapp – drums

Additional musicians

• James Muhawi – piano (track 6)
• Angus Cooke – cello
• Johnathan Cox – programming
• Glen Phillips – backing vocals
• Mike Herrera – backing vocals
• Tim Pagnotta – backing vocals

Template:Col-2 Production

• Lou Giordano – producer, mixing
• Thom Flowers – producer (track 12), engineer
• Elissa Meihsner – producer (track 12), additional tracking
• Eric Palmquist – producer (track 12)
• Bradley Cooke – engineer
• Andrew Alekel – engineer
• Jason Nelson – assistant engineer
• Dean Cupp – assistant engineer
• Dave Ashton – assistant engineer, additional tracking
• Jack Joseph Puig – mixing (tracks 4 and 6)
• Angus Cooke – additional tracking

Artwork

• Danny Clinch – band photos
• Chuck Meyer – water tower photos
• Kris Roe – other art photos
• Sergie Loobkoff – art direction, design

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Template:Album chartTemplate:Album chartTemplate:Album chart

Chart (2003)	Peak position

Year-end charts

Chart (2003)	Position
US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>	138

References

Citations Template:Reflist

Sources Template:Refbegin

• Template:Cite journal
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite journal
• Template:Cite journal
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External links

• So Long, Astoria at YouTube (streamed copy where licensed)