Praise For Wallflower.com | Indie Music Blog

What better way to come back from a (I must admit) lengthy vacation from Praise For Wallflower than by posting about a truly great band.  These guys are a lot different than what I'm used to writing about, but it's surely not out of my taste range.  My favorite bands include (but are not limited to)Thrice, Underoath, Blindside, and Everytime I Die - and while you might abhor them, and me for loving them, you must accept that I know a thing or two about a distorted guitar and a thrashing lead vocalist.

Atlas Ataxia, residents of heartland, Princeton NJ, remind me of a sober Fall of Troy, meshed with a melodic Trophy Scars, and then, lastly,  a powdering of The Early November over-top to round out the overall sensation .  As it turns out, I find Atlas insanely more palatable than any of the above bands.  Perhaps its their catchy-in-betweens or their melodic, musical fillers.  Maybe it's frontman, Brendan Dean's dry, talk-singing - you'd be lying if you said he or the rest of these guys were trying too hard.

A lot of groups that lean toward heavier crowds neglect musicality for intensity - a common, fatal mistake.  Since when did being huge, powerful, or moving mean tossing melody out the window?  In any case, this band is a powerful reminder of why this genre of emoted drama and yelling ever became popular in the first place - it's been a long while since I haven't concentrated on the word "wannabee" when listening to a local group of this flavor.

"I'm No Fashion Major Etc" off of their 2007 self-titled EP is a perfect example of how each song drives from start to finish, never drops in extremity or power, but also doesn't clamor or become too raucous to appreciate.  From here, I could go into further detail about each song, but its best left to you the listener.  I will say this - as is typical with such post-hardcore groups, songs can be well-crafted but often are entirely too similar to one another from song to song to merit an A+.  Atlas Ataxia have achieved A+ status in my book - solid, interesting writing with enough diversity from song to song to make even my mother smile.

THE SKINNY: Atlas Ataxia are a mellowed-hardcore group with a lot of punch, well crafted music, and interesting singing to make even the most bored Thursday fans remember why they fell in love in the first place.

APPROPRIATE FOR: having a long overdue, nostalgic moment (probably highschool or middle school if your anywhere near our ages)

FAVORITE TRACK: I'm No Fashion Major Etc

FOR FANS OF: Trophy Scars, The Fall of Troy