MxPx Cover “San Dimas High School Football Rules”

Well, that was a fun cover! I always forget how much I love that song.

It's also pretty cool that they recorded it as a gift to his wife.

 

Makes me wanna do an Ataris catalog dive today.

Also, somehow the universe knew what I wanted today.

 

Speaking of which are they ever going to make a 3rd Bill and Ted? It's been rumored for years

 

I always struggle to express this, but this band's trajectory has always fascinated me. There was a solid ~6 years of a slow-build in popularity that led to a major label deal. Then, 2003 happened, the band was all over the radio, etc. And then the band didn't tour too much and Welcome the Night came roughly 3-4 years too late to keep any of the momentum they had. And the people still paying attention didn't care for it at all (though it holds up better than I remember it at the time, Cursive worship and all).

Usually, bands of their size can retain some of the popularity they once had. But it feels like most everybody had jumped ship by the time Welcome the Night was released. I've always wondered about an alternate reality where that record was released as a side-project and the Ataris followed up with a "back to basics" record shortly thereafter. Or even if they had toured a bit more on So Long, Astoria.

I dunno. Just an interesting case study to me. Curious to hear your thoughts on the discography as a whole if you go that route!

 

Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter Reteaming for 'Bill & Ted 3'

This was the last I heard.

 

Yeah, never having the right follow up to that album will forever not make sense to me.

 

Well said. I totally agree. I'm one of those people you mentioned. I kept waiting and waiting for their next release and it just took a really long time and when it finally came out I was like, what is this?

 

MxPx covering The Ataris, can I grab this on Kazaa?

 

excellent

 

this rules.

 

by the way, im sure it is but is Mike Herrera's podcast a must listen if i'm a punk/90s & 00s/warped/skate kinda guy? like does he talk about the business side of the scene and all that.

 

I wouldn't call every episode a "must listen," but if you pick and choose based on the guest or topic, I think you might be into it. He talks about the business side of things fairly frequently, but the focus is on how MxPx currently operates as a band rather than looking back at old record deals or single choices from 1998 or whatever. That comes up, but not as much.

I think the podcast really shines when he goes down the road of asking other bands/artists how they operate in terms of business, touring, songwriting, etc.

Other common topics when he interviews other folks from bands: Tour/road stories from the past, songwriting, weird decisions MxPx made in the past, and pretty basic philosophy type stuff.

 

Ha! If I had known this was news I would’ve submitted it myself!

 

okay cool. i think i can get into that. The only other podcast i listen to is a wrestling one and it's a lot about the backstage of it and i would love something like that for punk music. ill give it a whirl

 

I'd also suggest Shane from Silverstein's Lead Singer Syndrome. The guests aren't always "punk" or whatever, but it's usually pretty interesting and they tend to be pretty notable regardless (e.g., Jonathan Davis from Korn) -- and it typically focuses on the "behind the scenes" aspects of being in a band. Results may very depending on the guest, but it's a fun listen.

Washed Up Emo is in a similar vein, but obviously the focus is very much on the word "emo" and how certain bands deal with that label, what it was like when the genre "blew up" in the early 2000s, etc.

 

I never knew I needed this, but it makes me so happy.

 

I have a crazy theory that I’ve been throwing around for the last couple years that if they broke up after END IS FOREVER they’d be one of the most desired reunion bands. If you want I can break down my madness. Hahaha

 

"Most desired" is probably too strong, but I bet it would be enough for them to reunite, headline something like the Fest, and have a fairly successful second act.

I think you're right about what might have been had they broken up post-EIF, particularly if it happened after signing to a major and before the major label debut was released. That would have frozen them in time for everyone (as "that band I loved back then") with just enough mystique to make them coveted.

What's your take?

 

On a quick wikipedia search on this subject (which is definitely interesting no doubt) it seems the answer is they broke up? no? I mean it seems the ataris from 99-04 went their different ways. That's probably the answer

 

I love, love, loved The Ataris. With that comes the simultaneous hope that they/Kris could make a huge comeback and have a (relatively) strong, successful third act of their career as well as the knowledge that the likelihood of this happening is, optimistically, low. You could just feel how big they were supposed to be. As a fan, I was so excited to hear what that sounded like. I saw a semi-recent photo of him with Marko DeSantis. He should convince that guy to rejoin The Ataris. Have Tim Pagnotta help write a song or two.

 

Pagnotta is unrecognizable these days. Successful as shit though. It's astounding to me that Kris hasn't released some kind of real album in over ten years. You're not Brian Wilson, fucker. Just put it out there.

 

This makes me wish I had a new copy of Blue Skies to spin. My MTS copy isn't up to par.

 

For me, the Ataris (well, Kris) really blew it when they didn't get Graveyard of The Atlantic out in a timely fashion. I think he could have had run with that style and got some mileage out of it, but instead he's been pissing around for 10 years.

I saw them in Bristol last year and it was a frankly miserable experience. He's started changing words to songs so that he can be vocally bitter about his ex-wife. I won't be paying to watch him again.

 

Yeah, a problem is that they took way too long to put out new music. I mean, thankfully is that they were able to put a compilation of "unreleased" work back in 2017, but they've been working on 'Graveyard of the Atlantic' since 2008!

Now they're treated as a joke when they're in the news. Heck, even I'm at the point where I look at this band with not only apathy, but a "I'll believe it when I'm actually listening to the brand new album" level of distrust.

Ooof, clearly that guy doesn't learn (or care) about playing live anymore. I still remember that indecent years ago where he threw the drumset at the drummer who I guess was both drunk, and playing poorly? I don't know, but Kris just isn't looking good these days.