As a cartoon clown's accountant once said, "Gambling is the finest thing a person can do -- if he's good at it."

With that in mind, it's important to pay attention to any wagering advice when it's offered you, especially when it comes free of charge.

So, kids -- pay attention.

"Bet against the (expletive) Expos every time," says Mike Davenport, bassist for Santa Barbara pop punk act The Ataris.

He's been putting that rule into practice over the past few days, while sitting around his hotel in Las Vegas, during a rare few days of downtime.

His band, which plays the Stampede's Coca-Cola Stage tonight, has been steadily on the go since releasing its breakthrough album So Long, Astoria last year.

The Ataris sixth full-length CD and the popularity of its singles, such as their cover of Don Henley's The Boys of Summer, kept them on the road constantly -- including 2003's Vans Warped Tour, which brought them through town -- and they've been much in demand.

They were even asked to contribute a song to the new Spider-Man 2 soundtrack, which they were more than happy to do.

"They said they liked it but they kept making us go back and remix it because we were mixing it punk rock," says Davenport of the new song, The Night That the Lights Went Out in NYC.

"After two remixes, it was good enough for them."

Good enough for the album, but not good enough to earn the nod as the album's first single.

That honour -- and let's face it, marketing boon -- went to Dashboard Confessional and their Peter Parker emo cut Vindicated.

"Oh, Dashboard -- I don't want to talk any (crap), but I think our songs 100 times better," Davenport says, noting that Ataris frontman Kris Roe stayed up all night watching the first Spider-Man over and over again to capture the vibe in his lyrics for NYC.

"But I'm going to say that about any band on the record -- I think our song's 100 times better because that's how I feel about our tunes ...

"I really love the song and I feel bummed that it's underrated to tell you the truth."

Well, at the very least, the song should whet the appetites of Ataris fans, who will, according to Davenport, have to wait until at least April of next year -- after he gets married -- to hear a brand new album.

He is promising, though, that the album will be more in the vein of the first punk mix of their Spidey song, and away from the more polished sound of Astoria -- a sound he admits served its purpose, but one they definitely want to leave behind.

"The music is done, the lyrics are in the works and we should be going in to start recording on August 15," Davenport says.