Non sono mai stato grande fan del genere "emo", sempre che ci sia un solo genere emo, dal momento che sotto questa dicitura di comodo negli ultimi anni sono stati raggruppati, volenti o nolenti, tantissimi gruppi spesso cloni gli uni degli altri.
Quando l'emocore era però ancora un genere dai contorni definiti uscì un disco di una band americana, i Matchbook Romance, che suscitò molto interesse nella critica del tempo. Il gruppo aveva forti radici pop-punk adolescenziale, ma sapeva partire da quelle per elaborare un debutto che ebbe dell'eccezionale. Oggi i tempi sono cambiati (forse in peggio), e nel 2006 i nostri danno alle stampe il loro secondo album, "Voices", ed è di nuovo sorpresa, stupore e cambio di rotta. Scordatevi quanto da me detto finora a proposito di pop punk ecc: qui c'è solo un ottimo rock, non più da quattordicenni, marcato sì sempre del solito eyeliner sotto gli occhi ma stavolta molto meno evidente, al punto che si potrebbe quasi dire che il gruppo si sia orientato maggiormente verso l'indie rock. Certo, come per la definizione "emo" anche questa è un po' troppo omnicomprensiva, ma credo che sia un genere che ormai si spiega da solo.
Per chi conosce i Matchbook sin dagli esordi strabuzzerà gli occhi ascoltando l'opener "You Can Run But We'll Find You". Le chitarre si sono fatte di colpo più pesante e stratificate, tratteggiano ora paesaggi sonori molto più complessi e per nulla immediati. La voce poi è intensa e sofferta, arrabbiata e sinuosa, ma ben lontana dagli urletti tipici del genere (o ex genere a questo punto) di questa band. La traccia è una vera mazzata, labirintica quanto basta e incalzante nel momento giusto, con il suo finale rabbioso e turbolento che sfocia in una placida coda di piano.
La successiva "Surrender" ricorda addirittura i Muse, per quell'arpeggio di chitarra così delicato che via via sale di intensità e rabbia, e nei passaggi tra ritornello e strofa sembra davvero di sentire, per piccoli sprazzi, la band inglese. Da annoverare senza dubbio il break a metà canzone, davvero incisivo e trascinante. Certo, sono solo momenti in un album intero, ma servono a farci capire quale sia il percorso intrapreso dalla band, ormai matura e lontana dagli ormai troppo calpestati territori emo.
L'inizio dell'album è folgorante, terza canzone e terza bellissima traccia, "My Mannequin Can Dance". Fortemente debitrice del sound della precedente in quanto a parte melodica (forse però più incalzante), in questa le chitarre se vogliamo sono ancor più stratificate e corpose, con, stavolta palese, un deciso rimando ai Muse, ma senza copiarli minimamente. La successiva "Goody Like Two Shoes" sembra incanalarsi verso una ballata malinconica, con le sue sezioni strumentali e accompagnate da archi notevoli, ma è solo uno specchietto per le allodole dal momento che presto la canzone esplode in un rabbioso chorus (sempre in voce pulita attenzione, mai uno scream emo punk per intendersi), che attraverso un saliscendi intenso con numerosi cambi di ritmo ci conduce verso il convulso finale di questa quarta traccia.
Si giunge dunque a quello che io considero forse il miglior pezzo del disco, "Monsters". Le sonorità cambiano di nuovo, un intro dalle tinte parodistiche e quasi ironiche ci porta al vero cuore della canzone, una traccia sinceramente indefinibile, fortemente ritmata e contornata dal sublime lavoro delle chitarre (qui avvolgenti come non mai) e soprattutto dalla voce, che nel precedente brano e in questo raggiunge vette di intensità davvero notevoli. Davvero un bel pezzo, coinvolgente e carico di sensazioni.
Ovviamente non tutte le ciambelle vengono col buco, e pure quest'album ha i suoi difetti. Alle cinque splendide canzoni iniziali fanno da contraltare altri pezzi piuttosto tiepidi, che possono essere benissimo tralasciati. Seppur di qualità leggermente inferiore al quintetto iniziale spingono forte però "Portrait" (con una struttura "à la Muse" già vista precedentemente) e "Singing Bridges" (quest'ultima già con tinte più malinconiche).
Tirando le somme ritengo questo un disco veramente notevole e meritevole di essere ascoltato, soprattutto nelle sette tracce da me nominate. E' un prodotto molto intenso e sentito, in grado di mettere in tavolo disperata rassegnazione, malinconica rabbia e doloroso rifiuto. Lontano dai clichè emo, l'album si farà sicuramente apprezzare da tutti coloro che avranno la pazienza di assaporarlo e di capirlo in ogni sua sfaccettatura.
Elenco tracce testi e video
02 Surrender (04:47)
and these are my sins
these are my regrets
i want to trade them in for some truth
just let it go, let it go
don't waste your breath
save your tears for somebody who believes
i can't help myself, let alone you
i give up
and these are my dreams
these are my beliefs
i wanna' trade them in for something real
just let it go, let it go
don't waste your breath
save your tears for somebody who believes
i can't help myself, let alone you
i'm tired of making love to a memory
i give up
03 My Mannequin Can Dance (03:55)
We're all eyes and in my personal opinion
if we're not all you were hoping for
when you say my name say it like a curse
i saw your face in the magazine saying i can't hear it
all the girls all glittered and glossed
screaming we can feel you, can you feel me?
we'll die if we're not in a corpse of conscience
lie these lies live a life
but don't lie to me
you're just chasing shadows
show us some heart and confess your sins
we'll sing with arms closed
and you can tear us apart cuz you won't break the skin
just put on your face and...
i would love nothing more in the world
than to watch you as you spill your guts.
unrehearsed you're just a silhouette
you never had a voice so why all the fuss?
you can have the kingdom, you can have the crown,
but you won't have the people.
no, or else you drown.
you're just chasing shadows
show us some heart and confess your sins
we'll sing with arms closed
you can tear us apart cuz you wont break the skin
put on your face, put on your face and scream
you're just chasing shadows
show us some heart and confess your sins
we'll sing with arms closed
you can tear us apart cuz you wont break the skin
just put on your face, just put on your face
and scream, and scream, and scream for me
05 Monsters (04:03)
girl, what's come between you and me?
look right through me
i'll let it go
i can't help this feeling anymore
i won't go anywhere
maybe you'll see me
we are
we are the shaken
we are the monsters
underneath your bed
yeah
believe what you read
we are
we are mistaken
we are the voices
inside your head
yeah
believe what you see
it came as no surprise
you bring me back to life
believe me
you bleed for me
i'll bleed for you
i caught you walking through walls
drowned with applause
from the world that makes me crazy
we are
we are the shaken
we are the monsters
underneath your bed
yeah
believe what you read
we are
we are mistaken
we are the voices
inside your head
yeah
believe what you see
we are the monsters
we are the monsters
we are the monsters
underneath your bed
we are the voices
we are the voices
we are the voices
underneath your bed
we are the monsters
we are the monsters
we are the monsters
yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
we are
we are the shaken
we are the monsters
underneath your bed
yeah
believe what you read
we are
we are mistaken
we are the voices
inside your head
yeah
believe what you see
we are
we are the shaken
we are the monsters
underneath your bed
yeah
believe what you see
06 Say It Like You Mean It (04:21)
We're too afraid to close our eyes
Afraid that we might drift and lose track of the time
The brilliant lie blanks my blind
Sends ghosts back to their graves and us back to life
I'm sorry, I'm sorry
Over and over [x2]
(just say it like you mean it)
[x2]
The best is when you say the worst is over
It's like saying we had luck with a three leaf clover
And you kept saying that over and over
And I still catch you looking over your shoulder
And it's okay, I know the only times you really loved me
Were the times when you weren't sober
And that hurts
We all hurt
We all hurt
And I kept saying that
Over and over [x2]
(just say it like you mean it)
[x2]
For the taste
For the sight
For the sound
For the fight
For the weak
For the strong
For the light
Say it like
You say it like you mean it
For the wait
For the crush
For the fear
For the lush
For the love
For the hate
For the touch
Just say it like
I will wait out for you [x3]
I will wait out
Over and over [x2]
Just say it like you mean it
[x2]
Just say it like you mean it
[x8]
07 Portrait (04:25)
Love, bring me the head of jealousy
This curse is the poison on her lips
A love as certain as a sinking ship
Unstoppable
This isn't a dream
This is what you are
And I'll take the blame
But that won't heal your scars
Look
Look a little closer now
Shot off
You should have known this wasn't a truce
Did your cheapshot
Turn black and blue
You should have known better
Than to change your mind
Tears won't tame your misery
They're the ones that say
Your heart is just a beat
You're just keeping time
This isn't a game
Who do you think you are
I'll take the blame
But that won't heal your scars
Look
Look a little closer now
Shot off
You should have know this wasn't a truce
Did your cheapshot
Turn black and blue
Look
Look a little closer now
Shot off
You should have know this wasn't a truce
Did your cheapshot
Look
Look a little closer now
Shot off
You should have know this wasn't a truce
Did your cheapshot
Turn black and blue
09 Fiction (03:25)
You found revenge in the bed
And it only cost a name
You make me sick, sick to my stomach
Sick, sick, to my stomach
You keep me in suspense
But you're just shooting blanks
All I hear is bang bang
All we hear is bang bang
And no, you'll never have to see
You'll never have to see me
Never have to deal with me again
If that's what you want
And that's what you get
And no, you'll never have to see
Never have to see me
Never have to deal with me again
You'll never have to deal with me again
Keep me in suspense
And tell me what it meant
The end you set between you and me
Look me in the eyes
And tell me what it meant
Just before we both go
I never looked back
Cross my heart and hope to die
I did it for love, love
I did it for the cry, love love
I wanna overdose on her kiss
Leaving me like this
Will you be my drug, drug?
Yeah, be my drug, drug
And no, you'll never have to see
You'll never have to see me
Never have to deal with me again
If that's what you want
And that's what you get
And no, you'll never have to see
You'll never have to see me
Never have to deal with me again
You'll never have to deal with me again
Keep me in suspense
And tell me what it meant
The end you set between you and me
Look me in the eyes and tell me what it meant
Just before we both went numb
Keep me in suspense
And tell me what it meant
The end you set between you and me
Look me in the eyes and tell me what it meant
Just before we both go numb
Keep me in suspense
Keep me in suspense
Just before we both go numb
10 What a Sight (04:27)
what a sight
never thought i'd find you here
last i knew you disappeared
we all get lost
i thought i
had lost you amongst the mess
in the cluttered things in my head
but here you are
when you wake
i'll be a thousand miles away
from the promises i made
and all i love
i'm a dreamer
with nothing left to dream
trying to tear a hole in the seam
of reality
don't ever forget me [x2]
i thought i lost you
thought i lost you
i thought i lost you
thought i lost you amongst the mess
and the demons in my head
but here you are
i would leave
to return more lost than before
a little more tired a little less sure
of where i was
the earth would move but
we would stand in place
hide in the shadows of the dead
we're almost out of time
yeah we're almost out of time
don't ever forget me [x2]
i thought i lost you
thought i lost you
i thought i lost you
[x2]
Carico i commenti... con calma
