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Verso la fine del 2002 e per buona parte dell'anno successivo non c'è stato un singolo numero dell'NME che non abbia riportato almeno un piccolo trafiletto riguardante i Libertines. Ogni settimana, le centinaia di persone che leggevano notizie sulle peripezie personali di Pete Doherty si tenevano allo stesso modo aggiornate riguardo l'evoluzione musicale del gruppo.
Ebbene questo fatto, all'incirca, sta per ripetersi con uno dei gruppi emergenti d'oltremanica più chiacchierati degli ultimi mesi. I Bloc Party.
Ecco a voi "Silent Alarm", ovvero il debut album più atteso dagli amanti di un certo tipo di rock, assieme a quello dei The Others di Dominic Masters.
Il gruppo di Kele Okereke, frontman di colore dal timbro vocale pulito e melodico come quello di Brandon Boyd, si muove entro i confini Franzferdinandiani di un rock dinamico, inondato da riferimenti pop-punk e rappresenterà, assieme ai Babyshambles, la punta avvelenata della nuovissima ondata rock made in Britain targata 2005.
Canzoni come Like Eating Glass, brano d'apertura del disco, o She's Hearing Voices colpiscono al primo ascolto e fanno seriamente pensare di essere arrivati a un gruppo rock se non innovativo, almeno non troppo noioso.
Con un E.P. alle spalle e un paio di singoli azzeccati, tra cui l'ottima Elicopter, i Bloc Party si sono guadagnati un tour in giro per l'Europa che li ha visti, prima, band d'apertura per gli Interpol e successivamente il centro di svariate critiche benevole da parte degli addetti ai lavori.
Bisogna però smontare gli eccessivi entusiasmi e le aspettative pressanti della stampa. Il disco è tutt'altro che un capolavoro.
E' anche vero però che, pur non rappresentando un must, risulta piacevole, soprattutto in quelle parti dove i nuovi gruppi new wave tendono a perdersi un po': le ballate. C'è una certa vena romantica (e psichedelica) in brani come Plans che aggiunge qualcosa di bello alle cose fin'ora proposte dalle band sopra citate.
Il sound dell'album è pulitissimo, lontano da incisioni lo-fi o venature blues sporcate di fango: canzoni tirate, riff altrettanto veloci e una passione per Clash, Pixies e per alcuni gruppi della Madchester scene anni '90, traspare inequivocabilmente di tanto in tanto.
Chi è rimasto piacevolmente sorpreso da band come Razorlight e Futurheads non può saltare quest'altra tappa di new rock che rappresenta se non una (ennesima) piccola brillante scoperta, almeno un piacevole diversivo della durata di un'ora.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Like Eating Glass (04:21)
It's so cold in this house
Open mouth swallowing us
The children staying home from school
Will not stop crying
And I know that you're busy too
I know that you care
You got your finger on the pulse
You got your eyes everywhere
And it hurts all the time when you don't return my calls
And you haven't got the time to remember how it was
It's so cold in this house
It's so cold in this house
I can't eat, I can't sleep
I can't sleep, I can't dream
An aversion to light
Got a fear of the ocean
Like drinking poison, like eating glass
Like drinking poison, like eating glass
Like drinking poison, like eating glass
Like drinking poison, like eating glass
Like drinking poison, like eating
It's so cold in this house
It's so cold in this house
It's so cold in this house
It's so cold in this bed
Like drinking poison, like eating glass
Like drinking poison, like eating glass
Like drinking poison, like eating glass
Like drinking poison, like eating glass
Like drinking poison, like eating
Come and show me how it was
We've got crosses on our eyes
Been walking into the walls again
We've got crosses on our eyes
Been walking into the furniture
We've got crosses on our eyes
For richer, for poorer, for better, for worse
We've got crosses on our eyes
We've been walking into the furniture
02 Helicopter (03:40)
North to South
Empty
Running on
Bravado
As if to say, as if to say
As if to say, he doesn't like chocolate
He's born a liar, he'll die a liar
Some things will never be different
Stop being so American
There's a time and there's a place
So James Dean
So blue jeans
Gonna save the world
He's gonna
Are you hoping for a miracle?
Are you hoping for a miracle?
Are you hoping for a miracle?
Are you hoping for a miracle?
Three out of five, three out of five (it's not enough)
Six out of ten
Better luck next time
Just like his Dad, just like his Dad (the same mistakes)
Some things will never be different
Hungry and dumb, hungry and dumb (so wait in line)
Queuing up for some more junk food
It's not my fault, it's not my fault (just this once)
They're getting so much younger
Why can't you be more European
Bastard child of guilt and shame
Bury your head in the sand
I'm thinking six, six, six
I'm thinking six
Are you hoping for a miracle?
Are you hoping for a miracle?
Are you hoping for a miracle?
Are you hoping for a miracle?
It's not enough.
03 Positive Tension (03:55)
He said you're just as boring as everyone else
When you tut and you moan
And you squeal and you squelch
He said that you're just as boring as everyone else
Nothing ever happens
Things replace things
Days replace days
Things replace things
She said I'm going use my teeth and my claws
She said I'm going use my teeth and my claws
She said I'm going use my teeth and my breasts
I'm gonna make it happen
She said
Run run run run run run
And you cannot run or ever, ever escape
You cannot run or ever hide it away
Something glorious is about to happen
The reckoning
They go you're just as boring as everyone else
When you tut and you moan
And you squeal and you squelch
They go you're just as boring as everyone else
Stuck past timing
The fear and the yearning
The fear and the consumption
The fear and the yearning
It's gonna eat you alive
They go...
And you cannot hide or ever, ever escape
And you cannot hide or ever put it away
Something glorious is about to happen
The reckoning
They go...
They say...
They go...
They say...
They go...
Why'd you have to get so hysterical?
Success, success, success is over
Why'd you have to get
So fucking useless
Play it cool boy
Play it cool
04 Banquet (03:21)
A heart of stone, a smoking gun
I can give you life, I can take it away
A heart of stone, a smoking gun
I'm working it out, I'm working
Why'd you feel so underrated?
Why'd you feel so negated?
Ha ha
Turning away from the light
Becoming adult
Turning into my soul
I wanted to bite not destroy
To feel her underneath
Turning into the light
She don't think straight
No no no she don't think straight
She's got such a dirty mind and it never ever stops
And you don't taste like her and you never ever will
And we don't read the papers, we don't read the news
Heaven's never enough
We will never be fooled
Turning away from the light
Becoming adult
Turning into my soul
I wanted to bite not destroy
To feel her underneath
Turning into the light
And if you feel a little left behind
We will wear you on the other side
And if you feel a little left behind
We will wear you on the other side
'Cause I'm on fire
'Cause you know on fire when you come
'Cause you know I'm on fire
'Cause you know I'm on fire so stub me out
'Cause I'm on fire
'Cause I'm on fire
'Cause I'm on fire
'Cause I'm on fire
05 Blue Light (02:47)
You'll find it hiding in shadows
You'll find it hiding in cupboards
It will walk you home safe every night
It will help you remember
If that's way it is
Then that's the way it is
I still feel you and the taste of cigarettes
What could I ever run to
Just tell me it's tearing you apart
Just tell me you cannot sleep
If that's way it is
Then that's the way it is
And you didn't even notice
When the sky turned blue
And you couldn't tell the difference
Between me and you
And I nearly didn't notice
The gentlest feeling
You are the bluest light
06 She's Hearing Voices (03:29)
She's hearing voices call her
She's hearing voices warn her
She just can't sleep in her bed
She just can't sleep
She's falling down the stairs
She's tearing out her hair
She's screaming my name, in the night
To keep her warm
She got a red pill blue pill
Red pill blue pill
Red pill blue pill
Red pill blue pill
Milk of amnesia
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Come on and I know that you want it
Was it nothing, nothing to write home about?
Did the earth, did the earth not move?
Got a red pill blue pill
Red pill blue pill
Red pill blue pill
Red pill blue pill
Red pill blue pill
Red pill blue pill
She got a red pill blue pill
Red pill blue pill
Red pill blue pill
Red pill blue pill
Red pill blue pill
Red pill blue pill
Milk of amnesia
She's scared of the blacks
And she's scared of the Jews
She is walking around
She is yesterday's news
And she cries out my name
In the dead of the night
She is sleeping in our room
She is crying on her side
Walking on eggshells
Walking on glass
Burnt by the mirror
Burnt by the light
Feeling rejection I'll burn down your house
Tearing down posters
I was never, never alive
07 This Modern Love (04:25)
To be lost in the forest
To be cut adrift
You've been trying to reach me
You bought me a book
To be lost in the forest
To be cut adrift
I've been paid
I've been paid
(repeat)
Don't get offended
If I seem absent minded
Just keep telling me facts
And keep making me smile
Don't get offended
If I seem absent minded
I get tongue-tied
Baby, you've got to be more discerning
I've never known what's good for me
Baby, you've got to be more demanding
I will be yours
I'll pay for you...anytime
I'll pay for you...anytime
And you told me you wanted to eat up my sadness
Well jump on, enjoy, you can gorge away
And you told me you wanted to eat up my sadness
Jump right
Baby, you've got to be more discerning
I've never known what's good for me and
Baby, you've got to be more demanding
Jump left
What are you holding out for?
What's always in the way?
Why so damn absent-minded?
Why so scared of romance?
This modern love breaks me
This modern love wastes me
Do you wanna come over and kill some time? (x3)
Throw your arms around...me
08 The Pioneers (03:35)
If it can be broke then it can be fixed
If it can be fused then it can be split
It's all under control
If it can be lost then it can be won
If it can be touched then it can be turned
All you need is time
We promised the world we'd tame it
What were we hoping for?
A sense of purpose and a sense of skill
A sense of function but a disregard
We will not be the first, we won't
You said you were going to conquer new frontiers
Go stick your bloody head in the jaws of the beast
We promised the world we'd tame it
What were we hoping for?
Breathe in, breathe out
So here we are reinventing the wheel
I'm shaking hands with a hurricane
It's a colour that I can't describe
It's a language I can't understand
Ambition, tearing out the heart of you
Carving lines into you
Dripping down the sides of you
We will not be the last
09 Price of Gasoline (04:19)
I've been driving, a mid sized car,
I never hurt anyone
Is that a fact?
The price of gas keeps on rising
Nothing comes for free
Make like a stone, make like a plant
I can tell you, how this ends
We're going to win this
With spades and truncheons, guns and trowels
That is how the war will be won
Just swat the fly
Taking care of cars and bodies
Nothing ever comes for me
The ghosts are here, red white and blue
I can tell you how this ends
We're going to win this
11 Luno (03:57)
And you're tired of your Mum
And you're tired of your Dad
Got you jumping through hoops
Got you shaving your legs
Let it pass, let it pass, let it pass over to you
And you're tired of your face
And you're tired of your nose
Got you jumping through hoops
Got you shaving your legs
Let it pass, let it pass, let it pass through you
And your nose is bleeding
And your nose is bleeding
You've been lying to me
(repeat)
There will be no hesitation
There will be no confrontation
There will be no indication
There will be no applause
There will be no exultation
There will be no justification
There will be no way at all
And your nose is bleeding
And your nose is bleeding
You've been lying to me
(repeat)
Come back to me the the way you were
The way you were when we were young
I'm trying to tell you everything
I'm trying to tell you everything
I can heal the blind
I can cure the sick
I can heal the blind
I can cure the sick
I can say the right things
I can say the right things
Where d'you get so cruel (4x)
Where do you go
'Cause you're never here
And your nose is bleeding
And your nose is bleeding
You've been lying to me
(repeat)
Come back to me the the way you were
The way you were when we were young
I'm trying to tell you everything
I'm trying to tell you everything
12 Plans (04:10)
Wake up dreamer
It's happening without you
Cut your hair and shave your beard
You squandered your chances
I'll give you a thousand pounds
To show me how you do it
Stop being so laissez-faire
We're all scared of the future
Been training vipers to come for you
In your dreams to release you
Been training vipers to come for you
In your sleep
And the ravens are leaving the tower
And the ravens are leaving the tower
And the ravens are leaving the tower
Make your peace
I've got a taste for blood
Leave the weak, leave the young
I've got a taste for blood
I'm walking out without you
You will kill or be killed
It's about progress
I've got a taste for blood
Wake up sleepyhead
It's happening without you
Such a nice guy
You tell me everything twice
Whip crack speed jump
We will run backwards
Stop being so laissez-faire
We're all scared of the future
We make plans for big times
Get bogged down, distracted
We make plans for good times
All neon, all surface
So kiss me before it all gets complicated
I've got a taste for blood
13 Compliments (04:43)
We sit and we sigh
And nothing gets done
So right, so clued-up
We just get old
And all the while
Been torn asunder
Nicotine
And bacteria
What are we coming to
What are we gonna do
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di northernsky
I Bloc Party miscelano abilmente le varie ispirazioni e alla fine risultano uno dei gruppi più originali usciti dal recente filone rock.
È insieme colto, complesso e divertente.
Di emoellie
"Like eating glass ti introduce in una dimensione, fatta di sonorità coinvolgenti, dalla quale non vorrai uscire."
"La foresta dell’indie rock che trova la sua completezza nello scenario anni ’70-’80 inglese: The Fall, The Cure, Gang of Four, The Clash e perché no, Elvis Costello."
Di Jack Darko
Capolavoro.
I loro suoni sono curatissimi, la voce è perfettamente intonata con le atmosfere delle singole canzoni.
Di MinorThreat
"Il suono della metropoli, il silenzioso caos che ci assale strisciando alle spalle"
"Al termine dell’ascolto, solo un aggettivo può passarci per la testa: 'drammatico'."
Di branjul
"Silent Alarm è un album veramente geniale!!!"
"Le sonorità sono pazzesche, ti trascinano in un vortice nuovo, originale, unico."
