Astoria

Theatrical Canadian rockers Marianas Trench continue to go big on Astoria, their third concept album and fourth LP overall. Since going platinum with 2011's Ever After, the Vancouver-based quartet have kept a high profile on both sides of the border, with bandleader Josh Ramsey drawing additional attention as the producer of Carly Rae Jepsen's 2012 international smash hit "Call Me Maybe." With the stakes raised and anticipation high, the band have poured everything they've got into an ambitious, '80s-fueled romp of high adventure with a dazzling array of musical and pop culture references. The Astoria of the album's title is the seaside Oregon town where Richard Donner's beloved 1985 movie The Goonies took place and Marianas Trench play to the film's mix of whimsy and wonder with cinematic orchestral themes, plot allusions, artwork featuring treasure maps, and the bandmembers dressed in Goonies character garb. Musically, they still fall somewhere between the anthemic pop-punk of Fall O