This review is part of a series looking back at significant albums on their anniversaries. Through the benefit of hindsight we will be viewing the album not just as it was released, but how it stands the test of time, as well as its place in the band’s discography and the genre in general.
Kung Fu Records- 13 April 1999
“Time to go right back to yesterday”
In April 1999, I was a 17-year-old senior in high school. Every class I was in last 38 minutes, so I was well aware that 38 minutes could ruin my day, ruin my week and when I was feeling super melodramatic it could even ruin my year. But it wasn’t until I heard The Ataris’ Blue Skies, Broken Hearts… Next 12 Exits that I learned that 36 minutes could change my life.
If there’s a Mt Rushmore of the emo/pop-punk sound that defined Warped culture at the turn of the millenium this record has to be one of the 4 album artworks carved in granite. The band’s blend of emo wussy boy vulnerability and epi-fat skate aggression created a sea change that is still impacting and influencing the scene.
Songwriter Kris Roe changed the landscape of punk lyricism and my own sense of masculinity by not only wearing his heart on his sleeve but wringing that heart-soaked sleeve onto every track. It was angsty, it was literal, it was self-aware and it was everything I needed at the time. It meant something special to have someone show me it was ok to pine away for someone, to let your own awkwardness blow it with your crush and to be constantly relegated into a friend zone. It was the cure to my own warped sense of manhood.
This was the personal soundtrack to my life from 17 to 23, mapping the confusion and guiding the exploration of youth acting adult. It was truly the album of that time for me.
Sometimes saying an album is very much of its time means it’s stuck in the past and wouldn’t hit the same way today as it did then. Blue Skies is very much of its time, but not the same way. This is an album that brings back the rush of emotions that come from arrogant self-doubt, optimistic malaise and the type of cocksure confusion of being a late teen in America.
So yeah, I’d probably laugh at the Degrassi-energy if I first heard the record today as a 42 year old. Then again, if I was 17 again in 2024 and heard this album for the first time I have no doubt I’d be just as obsessed as I was 25 years ago. This record captured the stunted maturity of the age and listening now is like taking a phone booth to San Dimas, just enjoying the chance to travel back in time.
Before major labels, before changing Don Henley lyrics to pander to their punk fanbase, before the rotating lineup of musicians behind Roe, there was Blue Skies and long after everyone Welcomes The Night or accepts that the End Is Forever, there will still be Broken Hearts for young adults and this album will forever help navigate the Next 12 Exits.
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/
