The line between punk and pop is getting muddier every day. There's no better evidence of this recent phenomenon than Wednesday night's performance at the MSU Auditorium by the Santa Barbara, Calif.-based band, the Ataris.

Formed seven years ago, the Ataris have built a reputation as one of the nation's best indie punk bands before the release of their major-label debut, "So Long Astoria" last March. Wednesday's stop at the Auditorium was part of the group's current gig as headliners of the Volkswagen Music Ed. Tour.

Opening act Vendetta Red hit the stage promptly at 8 p.m., as many fans were still filing into the half-empty auditorium. Lead singer Zachary Davidson spent much of the beginning of the set strutting around the stage, doing his best Robert Plant impression. Davidson has the vocal cords to pull off the image but unfortunately spent more time screaming then singing.

The group picked up steam as they went on and even managed to get the crowd interested near the end of their set, although crowd participation tapered off quickly with decreasing proximity to the stage.

When the Ataris took the stage around 9 p.m., they seemed a little cold, opening with "Unopened Letter to the World," which was not their best number of the night.

They band hit their stride when they kicked into their latest hit, a cover of Don Henley's "The Boys of Summer," a staple on rock radio in recent months, early in the set. "We're going to get this song the f- out of the way," lead singer and guitarist Kris Roe told the crowd before the group performed a flawless rendition of the hit.

Roe was hesitant to say outright that he was sick of playing Henley's song, which he said reminds him of visiting his grandmother in Miami as a child, but he did hint that he may not want the song to be his band's legacy.

"It was really a kind of nostalgic song for me. We decided to record it, but we never intended it to be a single," he said.

Roe wasn't dissatisfied with the doors "Boys of Summer" has opened for the group, though. "We're very honored that the radio has started to support this band," Roe said. "But we're just going to go out and play shows and bring the music to the fans."

The band was successful in doing exactly that for the remainder of their set, getting the crowd excited with the driving guitars and catchy pop choruses of songs like "So Long Astoria," "In This Diary," and "Your Boyfriend Sucks."

The group did little in the way of experimenting with their songs, churning out neatly-packaged three-and-a-half-minute reproductions of the album versions. Their ability to mimic their studio sound was impressive but helped contribute to the show's general lack of character.

It was hard to avoid feeling as if Wednesday's concert could have been any other show in any other city.

The lights went down after a short nine-song set, prompting the obvious call for an encore. Chants of "One more song" and "We want Ataris" started among the crowd.

The band didn't keep them waiting long, returning to the stage to play "Teenage Riot" and "Song 13," arguably two of the evening's better moments.

Roe mentioned "Song 13" was one of his favorites to play live.

"I like to play any songs with big breakdowns at the end, where I don't have to sing for a period of time," he said.

The band closed the show with "San Dimas High School Football Rules," a crowd-pleaser that ended the concert on a positive note.

The entire set, encore included, clocked in at just under an hour.

Fans who were hoping for a little more will have to wait. A new album isn't expected for over a year. "I've been writing a lot of lyrics," Roe said, "but I don't really sit down with a guitar and write music until we're off the road