I Modest Mouse, attivi dal 1993, ci hanno regalato alcune delle pagine più significative dell'indie rock di fine millennio, risollevando, in parte, le sorti di un genere quantomeno inflazionato. La band, capitanata dal cantante e chitarrista Isaac Brock, inizialmente proponeva una musica rabbiosa, esplosiva, spesso altrenata a momenti fortemente malinconici; il gruppo di Seattle, seppur nella sostanza non tradirà la propria impronta genetica, vertirà, nel corso degli anni, sempre più verso un musica maggiormente elaborata, patinata, che cede parte del furore degli esordi in cambio di sonorità più orecchiabili e ammiccanti.
"The Lonesome Crowded West", 1997, ultimo disco pubblicato per l'indipendente Up prima di passare ad una major, è, formalmente, il secondo full-lenght dei Topi, (in realtà il vero esordio, all'epoca dei fatti, era ancora in attesa di pubblicazione), ed è, a mio avviso, il migliore album dell'intera produzione dei Nostri, sebbene, mi sembra doveroso dirlo, il più blasonato da critica e pubblico resta il successivo "The Moon And Antarctica".
Il disco, pensato come un concept sul declino del vecchio west, si presenta, già da un ascolto superficiale, come un'opera titanica, con i suoi quasi 74 minuti di musica divisi in ben quindici brani; opera, dunque, che a causa della sua lunghezza risulta non facile da metabolizzare per l'ascoltatore, nonostante la musica sia godibilissima e immediata. I punti di forza dell'album, infatti, sono una sapiente miscela tra momenti incendiari e momenti che, seppur più riflessivi, mantengono sempre intatta quella tensione artistica palpabile durante tutto lo scorrere delle canzoni, contrassegnate spesso da vorticosi cambi di ritmo; difficile, insomma, annoiarsi.
Brock continua a cantare dei reietti della società con una passione genuina e una voce unica, sia nei teneri momenti parlati che in quelli più urlati; figuri tanto bizzarri quanto ambigui e discutibili; personaggi affascinanti e quantomai veri. Vera come solo la finzione sa essere. Il leader, nativo del Northwest, risulta ispiratissimo e conferma ancora una volta il suo gusto per la melodia e un talento innato per gli arrangiamenti. Quest'ultimi sono sempre ricchi e fantasiosi, nonostante l'utilizzo della strumentazione rispetti in maniera piuttosto fedele i canoni della musica rock. Il tutto registrato in maniera genuina, senza badare troppo alla perfezione formale, come nella migliore tradizione del genere.
Ma il vero miracolo di TLCW è quello di tenere l'ascoltatore incollato alle casse, febbricitante, per più di un'ora di musica. Difficile trovare nella storia del rock un concept album con così pochi punti deboli, nonostante una forte coesione d'insieme. Numerosi sono i brani che diventeranno "classici" del gruppo, anche se Brock e compagni scansano magistralmente il pericolo di un effetto stucchevole, quasi di saturzione, che si può provare ascoltando un greatest hits. Questo è un disco dalla forte personalità che, ovviamente, potrà non piacere, ma non lascia certo indifferenti.
In conclusione "The Lonesome Crowded West", semisconosciuto nel Belpaese, osannato all'estero, è tra i migliori album rock degli anni '90 e sicuramente un ascolto consigliato per tutti gli amanti del genere, nonostante un'eccessiva prolissità dei brani potrebbe infastidire qualcuno.
Inizialmente pensato come doppio cd, questa scelta fu osteggiata dalla Up Records, timorosa di ripercussioni poco felici sugli incassi. Un occasione in più nella quale le case discografiche dimostrano di saper far di conti ma che poco ci capiscono d'arte.
Si potranno consolare i fortunati possessori del doppio lp, nei quali si può trovare anche il brano inedito "Baby Blue Sedan" non incluso nella versione compatta.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
02 Heart Cooks Brain (04:04)
Slow walk
It's a land mine
It's a coal mine
It's a bad thought
I'm on my way to god don't know
my brain's the burger and my heart's the coal
I'm trying to get my head clear
I push things out through my mouth i get refilled through my ears
I get refilled through my ears (x2)
I'm on my way to god don't know or don't care
My brain's the weak heart, and my heart's the long stairs
My heart's the long stairs (x2)
Inland from Vancouver shores
The ravens and the seagulls push each other inward and outward
Inward and outward
In this place that i call home
My brain's the cliff, and my heart's the bitter buffalo
My heart's the bitter buffalo
We tore one down, and erected another there
The match of the century: absence versus thin air
I'm on my way to god don't know
My brain's the burger and my heart's the coal
In this life that we call home
The years go fast and the days go so slow
The days go so slow
The days gooooo slow
I'm on my way to god don't know
My brain's the burger and my heart's the coal
I'm just trying to get things clear
I push things out through my mouth and I get refilled through my ears
I get refilled through my ears
I get refilled...
I'm on my way to god don't know or even care
My brain's the weak heart and my heart's the long stairs
My heart's the long stairs (x2)
In the land from Vancouver Shore
The ravens and the seagulls push each other inward and outward
Inward and outward
In this place that I call home
My brain's a cliff and my heart's a bitter buffalo
My heart's a bitter buffalo
They tore one down and erected another there
The match of the century: absence versus thin air
Absence versus thin air
In this life that we call home
The years go fast and the days go slow
The days go so slow.
03 Convenient Parking (04:10)
Soon the chain reaction started in the parking lot
Waiting to bleed on the big streets
That bleed out on the highways and
Off to others cities built to store and
sell these (plastic) rocks
Well aren't you feeling real dirty
Sitting in the parking lot (X2)
Waiting to bleed on the big streets
That bleed out on the highways and
Off to other cities built to make and
store these rocks
Well aren't you feeling real dirty
Sitting in your car with nothing
Waiting to bleed on the big streets
That bleed out on the highways and
Off to other cities built to store and sell
There's nothing
Convenient parking (is way back, way back)(X3)
07 Cowboy Dan (06:16)
Well, Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He goes to the reservation, drinks and gets mean
And he's gonna start a war
He's gonna start a war
And he hops in his pickup, puts his pedal to the floor
And says, "I got mine, but I want more."
Because Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He goes to the reservation, drinks and gets mean
He drove the desert, fired his rifle in the sky
And said, "God, if I have to die, you will have to die."
Because Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He didn't move to the city:
"The city moved to me,
And I want out desperately."
Can't do it
Not even if sober
Can't get that engine turned over
Can't do it
Not even if sober
Can't get that engine turned over
Don't know
not even if sober
Can't get that engine turned over
Standing in the tall grass
Thinking nothing
You know
We need oxygen to breathe
Oxygen to breathe
Standing in the tall grass
Thinking nothing
You know
We need oxygen to breathe
Oxygen to breathe
Everytime you think you're walking,
You're just moving the ground
Everytime you think you're talking,
You're just moving your mouth
Everytime you think you're looking,
You're just looking down
Well, Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He goes to the reservation, drinks and gets mean
He hops in his pickup, puts the pedal to the floor
And says, "I got mine, but I want more."
'Cause Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He goes to the reservation, drinks and gets mean
He drove the desert, fired his rifle in the sky
And says, "God, if I have to die, you will have to die."
Cowboy Dan's a major player in the cowboy scene
He goes the the reservation, drinks and gets mean
He didn't move to the city:
"The city moved to me,
And I want out desperately"
Can't do it
Not even if sober
Can't get that engine turned over
Can't do it
Not even if sober
Can't get that engine turned over
No, no
Not even if sober
Can't get that engine turned over
Yeah
Not even if sober
Can't get that engine turned over
08 Trailer Trash (05:50)
Eating snow flakes with plastic forks
And a paper plate of course
You think of everything
Short love with a long divorce
And a couple of kids, of course
They don't mean anything
Live in trailers with no class
God damn, I hope I can pass
High school means nothing
Taking heartache with hard work
God damn, I am such a jerk
I can't do anything
And I shout that you're all fakes
And you should've seen the look on your face
And I guess that's what it takes
When comparing your belly aches
And it's been a long time
Which agrees with this watch of mine
And I know that I miss you
and I'm sorry if I dissed you
Eating snow flakes with plastic forks
And a paper plate of course
You think of everything
Short love with a long divorce
And a couple of kids, of course
They don't mean anything
Live in trailers with no class
God damn, I hope I can pass
High school means nothing
Taking heartache with hard work
God damn, I am such a jerk
I can't do anything
And I shout that you're all fakes
And you should've seen the look on your face
And I guess that's what it takes
When comparing your belly aches
And it's been a long time
Which agrees with this watch of mine
And I guess that I miss you
And I'm sorry if I dissed you
09 Out of Gas (02:33)
Out of gas
Out of road
Out of car
I don't know how I'm going to go and
I had a drink the other day
Opinions were like kittens
I was giving them away
I had a drink the other day
I had a lot to say
And I said:
You will come down soon too
You will come down too soon
You will come down soon too
You will come down
You'll come down, come down
You will come down soon too
You will come down too soon
You will come down soon too
Soon enough you will come down, come down
Out of gas
Out of road
Out of car
I don't know how I'm going to go and
I had a drink the other day
Opinions were like kittens
I was giving them away
I had a drink the other day
I had a lot to say
And I said:
You will come down soon too
You will come down too soon
You will come down soon too
Soon enough you will come down, come down
You will come down soon too
You will come down too soon
You'll come down, come down
You'll come down, come down
13 Polar Opposites (03:31)
Polar opposites don't push away
It's the same on the weekends as the rest of the days
And I know I should go but I'll probably stay
And that's all you can do about some things
I'm trying to drink away the part of the day
That I cannot sleep away
I'm trying to drink away the part of the day
That I cannot sleep away
Two one eyed dogs, they're looking at stereos
Hi-fi Gods try so hard to make their cars low to the ground
These vibrations oil its teeth
Primer gray is the color when you're done dying
I'm trying to drink away the part of the day
That I cannot sleep away
I'm trying to drink away the part of the day
That I cannot sleep away
14 Bankrupt on Selling (02:55)
Well all the apostles, they're sitting in swings
Saying I'd sell off my savior for a set of new rings
And some sandles with the style of straps
that cling best to the era
So all of the businessers in their unlimited Hell
Where they buy and they sell and they sell all their
Trash to each other, but they're sick of it all
And they're bankrupt on selling
And all of the angels
They'd sell off your soul for a set of new wings
And anything gold
They remember
The people they loved their old friends
And I've seen through'em all, seen through'em all
Seen through most everything
All the people you knew were the actors
All the people you knew were the actors
Well, I'll go to college and i'll learn some big words
And I'll talk real loud
Goddamn right I'll be heard
You'll remember the guy who said all those big words he Must've learned in college
And it took a long time
Til I came clean with myself
I come clean out of love with my lover
I still love her
Loved her more when she used to be sober and I was kinder
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Altre recensioni
Di Shit Luck
È un disco vivo, sentito, viscerale, che nella sua lunghezza non stanca mai, ma colpisce e commuove.
Proprio COMMOVENTI: infatti nonostante la varietà e la complessità del materiale il risultato finale è una tempesta emotiva che ti falcia dentro.
