Atta Boy’s album Crab Park is an October 2022 release with an autumnal feel. This album was created for two moods: the loving feeling of making dinner for your family when it’s 5 PM and already dark, or the ennui of walking on a secluded urban beach. With an overall alt-country feel—think Gillian Welch or Tonk—the songs are welcoming and homey, but lyrically they interweave themes of conflict and teen angst.

The opening title track “Crab Park” is one of longing, with many seemingly unresolved thoughts and wishes poured into this track. “Well, I never thought it over / And I think that you should drive on over / And I never ever thought it would be / Me and you at Crab Park / With the bittersweet and final spark of Firework Friday.” I don’t know who this song is about, but from the lyrics, I really do not think they deserve a song written about them and the relationship’s ending.  

“Spring Seventeen'' is a song about growth and courage. The staccato tune that is played throughout comes across charmingly –  a little childish, a little mocking. The track feels reminiscent of the space you give people from high school when you're over 25, or of the distance that a teen puts between their parents and themselves as a way to slowly establish the slow transformation of growing into adulthood.

“Alex” was definitely my favourite song on the album. It took a couple listens to really get past the evocative lyrics to engage with the sweet melodies accompanying them. Overall the song  feels like a victim impact statement or a letter addressing traumatic events that the band could only just remember. It’s an important song that addresses consent, memory and time-driven healing. 

Closing with “Twin Flame” was an interesting choice, especially after an upbeat track like “Boys” preceding it. The contrast between the two creates a feeling of emotional dissonance that can't be shaken, leaving the listener eerily on edge. Although a lovely song, “Twin Flame” does not feel like the conclusion that was needed to bring the album back full-circle, and a sentiment of resolve is what remains.

On the whole, Crab Park feels seasonally appropriate, and Atta Boy has concocted the early, sweet onset of seasonal affect disorder before it intensifies. Perhaps, like me, you live in Vancouver, or perhaps you know of a Crab Park in your area that you hung out in as a teen. Regardless, I encourage you to listen to the album, listen to Atta Boy’s sweet tunes and seek to understand a world of new details of decay and regeneration.

Crab Park

Out October 21, 2022

1. Crab Park

2. Spring Seventeen

3. Blue Moon

4. Steller's Jay

5. We Ran From Midnight

6. Deep Sea Ladder

7. Alex

8. It Goes Away

9. Boys

10. Twin Flame

Written and performed by Atta Boy

Engineered and mixed by Jason Hiller

Additional engineering by Freddy Reish

Produced by Jason Hiller and Atta Boy

Mastered by Lurssen Mastering

Art by Lewis Pullman

Atta Boy

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Esmée Colbourne is a researcher and writer interested in the ties between community, memory and the arts.

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