• Voto:
Uno dei gruppi più geniali e incompresi degli ultimi anni, i Beta Band, sebbene non abbiano mai eguagliato i vertici altissimi dei 3 EP hanno toccato una altro punto molto alto con questa uscita del 2001.Hot Shots II non ha più niente a che fare con il sound dei primi EP, del resto non era più possibile ripetere quella magica stagione. Il disco riesce però ad esplorare una nuova direzione sonora con grande efficacia e rappresenta il miglior tentativo fatto dalla band di limitare i propri instinti sperimentali sfruttandoli al meglio al servizio di canzoni maggiormente pop e quindi anche più brevi. La necessità di conciliare le tendenze sfrenate e libere con un formato essenziale evitando di dilungarsi troppo è stata la vera ossessione dei Nostri e forse proprio la causa del loro recente, triste scioglimento. Lo sforzo per conciliare queste due tendenze si rivelava ogni volta più faticoso e dagli esiti incerti.
Hot shots II è l'album che meglio opera la sintesi : le canzoni sono ben messe a fuoco, quadrate, senza che ciò vada a inficiare il senso di estraneità, di alterità che da sempre costituisce il lato forte della Beta Band. Il risultato è dunque molto intrigante.
L'elettronica viene usata a buon fine per sottolineare i ritmi decentrati e sghembi delle canzoni. Le melodie come spesso accade sono contemporaneamente orecchiabili, ipnotiche e inusuali. Se si vuol indicare punti di riferimento del passato non si può che fare il nome di Syd Barrett tenendo però bene a mente il fatto che musicalmente è stato fatto un notevole aggiornamento per cui non si tratta di una semplice riproposizione di modelli del passato.
"Square", "Human Being", "Gone" e le altre sono delle vignette in bilico tra elettronica e pop che immergono l'ascoltatore in un atmosfera ariosa, rilassante e rilassata, cool senza essere troppo auto-cosciente. I Beta Band suonano sciolti, freschi, soddisfatti di aver trovato una nuova, temporanea identità sonora nella folle e intrigante corsa al rinnovamento continuo che li porterà allo scioglimento.
Conclude l'album "Eclipse", lungo brano molto bello sia dal punto di vista vocale che strumentale, una distesa cavalcata in un mondo delirante, ironico, giocoso e vario, una filastocca dove i giochi vocali e le invenzioni si susseguono incalzanti. Che volere di più? Brano quasi-capolavoro all'interno di un lavoro che capolavoro non è ma è pur sempre una preziosa testimonianza della possibilità di essere ancora originali nel nuovo millennio.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Squares (03:46)
I seen the demons but they didn't make a sound
They tried to reach me but I lay upon the ground
I seen the people but they didn't make a sound
They tried to reach me but I gave the runaround
I reached for feelings but they didn't make a sound
They tried to reach me but I lay upon the ground
I saw miles and miles of squares, where's the feeling there
Still nobody cares for miles and miles of squares
Daydream I fell asleep beneath the flowers
02 Al Sharp (03:34)
Is it because I'm beside myself with love
That I can't say these things to you, honey?
Or is it because I'm beside myself with guilt
That I can't say these things to you, honey?
You and me
Will never be
Fine
(You know I never even tried)
You and me must never be fine
Is it because a life beyond the heart was taken out for good?
Al Sharp, he got that money
All because the Power Ranger robots in the skies
Have called a war, to you honey
You and me (To you honey)
Will never be (To you honey)
Fine
(You know I never even tried)
You and me (To smile) (To you honey)
Must never be (To you honey)
Fine
Old Al Sharp, he laughs in the face of dark
Al Sharp, he laughs in the face of God
He tried the honey
(He's a liar and a cheat and he falls on the weak)
He tried for money
Thievin' on your mind
Thievin' on your mind, ah
You and me
(Thievin' on your mind, ah)
Will never be
Fine
(You know I never even tried)
You and me (Thievin' on your mind, ah) (To smile)
Must never be
Fine
(You know I never even tried)
You and me (Thievin' on your mind, ah) (To smile)
Must never be
Fine
(You know I never even tried)
You and me (Thievin' on your mind, ah) (To smile)
Must never be
Fine (Thievin')
(You know I never even tried)
You and me (Thievin' on your mind, ah) (To smile)
Must never be
Fine
(You know I never even tried)
You and me (Thievin' on your mind, ah) (To smile)
Must never be
Fine
(You know I never even tried)
You and me (Thievin' on your mind)
Will never be (Leavin' on your mind)
Fine (Never you mind)
(Never you mind, ooh)
05 Dragon (04:56)
Jumpin up & down & foolin around
Is it ever any wonder that you get knocked down
Comin down fast gonna pass you on the right
I loved you before but now I turn in the night
Why you never seem to try
Moving down the way & getting lost
Blackness is [a place] in my mind
The less that you know is the more that you learn
Is there any point in knowledge when you?re old [and infirm]
Why you never seem to try
[keep a ** is a***? Cruel thing?]
How could you hear how to feel it?
How could you hear how to sing it?
I never been the type to sing all night but Aaaaaaaaah!
Sitting on your bed [being?bean?] balanced on your head
Rolling back those fears
The loose lipped trouble dutch double on the monkey
You can see it in his face when you hear it in his [voice]
Why you never seem to try?
How could you hear how to feel it?
How could you hear how to sing it?
I never been the type to sing all night but Aaaaaaaaah!
How the west was won its a lie but its made to sound like fun
07 Quiet (04:49)
There's a quiet little man
and he sits at his window
Doesn't make a sound
but he watches where the wind blows
Wants to go outside
fears wouldn't let him
[Force] a little smile
and the fears come rolling
la la bum bum dum dum dum dum
You can go outside where the sun & the people blind you
You can go outside where the love of the people finds you - it will find you
When he walks through the maze
in the circles of his back place
[While the Jew ] on his roof
is still tieing up his shoelace
He will [never curse] again
all the days on his home spent
Nailing all the doors
& jumping through the window
08 Alleged (05:30)
Oh Ma there's a hole in my head
Used the bullets that come with the gun you gave me
Shine a light into my head,
see the place where we were gonna live
Before you ran off with your spaceman
left me here without a place for us
Oh Ma there's a hole in my head
Used the bullets that come with the gun you gave me
Used to be funny when you told me jokes
layin around you & me both when I
Try to remember my favorite one
all I get's a vision of the gun - imagine.
Oh Ma there's a hole in my head
Used the bullets that come with the gun you gave me
Yes its true, I love you - how does it feel without me?
I don't know what you're gonna do,
I don't know where you're gonna go
I don't know who you want to see,
I don't know who you want to be
I don't know why I want to know,
I don't know why you didn't show
I don't know why I didn't see,
I don't know why I didn't leave
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