never say die in astoria

Published 7:00 pm Thursday, November 5, 2015

Astoria is once again in the news, but not the way you’d expect — it is the title of a new album, and one of the songs on it, released worldwide Oct. 23 by Vancouver, British Columbia, rock band Marianas Trench (www.marianastrench.net). The album cover is pictured, and you can listen to all of the songs on their website.

Why is our fair city the title? The band’s website explains as follows: “When Marianas Trench’s lead singer Josh Ramsay (pictured upper left) came up with the title ‘Astoria,’ he saw the album as a concept record based on 1980’s fantasy adventure films; specifically ‘The Goonies,’ which is set in the seemingly doomed town of Astoria, Oregon. The idea was to let a classic coming of age movie inspire the music and overall feel of the record.”

The Ear listened to the song “Astoria” (not recommended for those with tender sensibilities!), which seems to have nothing whatsoever to do with Astoria, or the 1980s, or even the Goonies, except perhaps for three words in the line, “Cause I’ll find out in all due time what happens to never say die.” Yikes.

— Elleda Wilson