Probabilmente la maggior parte dei seguaci dell'indie pop made in USA conosce Jenny Lewis per la sua partecipazione a quel fulminante capolavoro tascabile che fu "Give Up" dei Postal Service e per il suo album solista con le Watson Twins dello scorso anno. Ma non molta attenzione viene data alla sua band vera e propria, i Rilo Kiley, quartetto di Los Angeles che giunse al debutto nel 2001 con questo "Take Off And Landings", CD che si può definire assolutamente delizioso, sin dalle prime note di "Go Ahead", quasi una filastrocca folk per voce e chitarra, in cui il talento canoro della Lewis inizia a farsi sentire (letteralmente). La successiva "Science Vs. Romance" è invece più elettrica, ma non troppo, una ballad che lentamente si gonfia sinchè le chitarre si infuocano, ma è soltanto un attimo e si torna subito alla calma, al guitarpop trasognato e di buona fattura (marchio di fabbrica dei Rilo) che pervade anche brani come "Wires And Waves" e soprattutto "Pictures Of Success" (d'obbligo in quasi tutti i mixtapes che il sottoscritto prepara e ascoltata allo spasimo durante un passato viaggio in California-sarà per l'atmosfera? Mah), secondo chi scrive il miglior pezzo dell'album, quasi sette minuti in cui il cantato sussurrato di Jenny è sostenuto da un jingle-jangle assolutamente misurato e perfetto. In poche parole: un brano POP! perfettamente costruito, come se fosse stato orchestrato nei minimi dettagli, con tanto di sezione fiati al punto giusto. Ma non finisce qui: c'è tempo per "August", cantata dal chitarrista, e per un'altra delicata canzoncina folk, la breve "Bulletproof", che apre la seconda parte del disco, ove spiccano la bella "Don't Deconstruct" e "Rest Of My Life", memore delle pagine più country di Conor Oberst alias Bright Eyes (sorvoliamo sulla parentesi un po' troppo radio-friendly di "Always").

In definitiva, questo resta uno dei lavori più riusciti di un gruppo che solo ora sta iniziando ad ottenere un meritato successo anche in Europa, dopo la firma del contratto major con la Warner Bros. Recuperatelo.

Elenco tracce testi e video

01   Go Ahead (03:34)

if you want to find yourself by travelling out west
or if you want to find somebody else that's better
go ahead
go ahead

if you want to buy a brand new fancy automobile
or if you want to build a place up in coldwater canyon
go ahead
go ahead
go ahead
i wish you would
go ahead

if you want to hold your own hand going up that cliff
or if you want to just hold back cause you ain't up to it
go ahead
go ahead
go ahead
be my guest
go ahead

if you want to hold on to the first girl that you meet
or if you want to settle down and plant roses at my feet
go ahead
go ahead
go ahead
i wish you would
go ahead

if you want to have your cake and eat it too
and if you want to have other people watch you while you eat it
go ahead
go ahead
go ahead
be my guest
go ahead

if you want better things
i want you to have them
if you want better things
then i want you to have them
go ahead
go ahead
go ahead
i wish you would
go ahead
go ahead
i wish you would
go ahead

02   Science vs. Romance (05:43)

i used to think if i could realize i'd die
then i would be a lot nicer
used to believe in a lot more
now i just see straight ahead

that's not to say i don't have good times
but as for my days
i spend them waiting

crash sites keep me up at night
impact division it splits in two
directly underneath you

as for those things (as for those things)
that act as markers in your life
but in between (but in between)
you can't remember
and so it seems (and so it seems)
that you've grown up and over me (up and over me)
and these silly things (these silly things)
i like to dwell on

test sites keep me up at night
chainlink and meters
i talk to you
it's cold out there
but i'm telling you
i'm lonely too

facts versus romance
you go and call yourself the boss
but we're not robots inside a grid

text versus romance
you go and add it all you want
still we're not robots inside a grid

zeros and ones

03   Wires and Waves (03:18)

There are twelve hours
There's a day between us
And you called to say you're sorry in your own way

There are oceans and waves and wires between us
And you called to say
You're getting older

And sometimes planes they smash up in the sky
And sometimes lonely hearts they just get lonelier

How did you survive all those fires and floods?
How did you survive your insufferable friends?
It was the plow that broke the western plains
And it's just my heart gets rejected by my veins

And sometimes planes they smash up in the sky
And sometimes lonely hearts they just get lonelier
And lonelier
And lonelier
And lonelier
And lonelier
And lonelier
And lonelier
And lonelier

And sometimes planes they smash up in the sky
And sometimes lonely hearts they just get lonelier

04   Pictures of Success (06:51)

Build your own television receiver
Staying home can't be that bad for me
'cause I'm not scared
but I'd like some extra spare time
Easily earn me big money

I'm a modern girl but I fold in half so easily
when I put myself in the picture of success
I could learn world trade
or try to map the ocean

When you're dead
in hospitals and freeways
When you're dead
in resting homes and clinics
When you're dead
It must be nice to finish
when you're dead

I've had it with you
and Mexico can fucking wait
And all of those French films about trains
'cause I'm not scared
but I'd like some extra spare time
I'm not scared
but the bills keep changing colors

When you're dead
in hospitals and freeways
When you're dead
in dress shirts and neckties
When you're dead
in apartments and on beaches
When you're dead

They say California is a recipe for a black hole
and I say I've got my best shoes on
I'm ready to go (ready to go)
ready to go
ready to go
I'm ready to go
ready to go
ready to go
ready to go
I'm ready to go
ready to go
ready to go
ready to go
I'm ready to go
ready to go
ready to go
ready to go
I'm ready to go

These are times that can't be weathered and
we have never been back there since then

These are times that can't be weathered and
we have never been back there since then

These are times that can't be weathered and
we have never been back there since then

These are times that can't be weathered and
we have never been back there since then

05   August (03:18)

06   Bulletproof (01:57)

if you think you're bulletproof, you're right
because you've weathered all my slings and arrows well
if you think i'm paranoid, that's fine
cause i've got evidence on my side

if you want to come over tonight
that's fine because i have no plans
please be kind, don't drop the rock on me

how many blows to the belly will this thing take
that we refer to as our true love?
we both knows it dead and its been dying for some time
but we refuse to let it go

please be kind, don't drop the rock on me
don't go outside and discover that you like being free
cause if you did you'd be dropping the rock on me

07   Plane Crash in C (05:12)

08   Variations on a Theme (Science vs. Romance) (00:36)

09   Small Figures in a Vast Expanse (03:19)

let's try a new change
let's try a new change
let's try a new change
then we'll go on back to the old one
like we've done so many times before

and i'll buy a new brain
i'll buy a new brain
you'll administer new pain
then we'll go on back to our old school
that we left so many times before

and you'll ask for more
and more

i've just begun a new phase
i'm trying these days
i've watched you close
i'm versed in all your ways
i'm just beginning to realize
i'll get you one of these days

but in the end
if it was all pretend
isn't that what friends are for?
but this is real life
it's supposed to be real life
so let's pretend that we're not bored
that we exist and that we're resolved
to real things happening to me

2, 3, 4

10   Don't Deconstruct (02:37)

11   Always (04:00)

(1, 2, 3, 4)

I should have known with a boy like you
Your middle name is always
I'd always love you
Ahhh, yeah

You let the needle drop
I think that you could do so much better
Those conventions are taking their toll on you

A phantom is disguised
It's horrifying
Right before your eyes
Phantom is inside

I should have known with a boy like you
Your middle name is always
I'd always want you
Ahhh, yeah

A phantom is disguised
It's horrifying
Right before your eyes
The phantom is inside
It's hideous
Right before your eyes
The phantom is watching you
The phantom is watching you, you

12   We'll Never Sleep (God Knows We'll Try) (02:54)

13   Rest of My Life (02:10)

14   Variations on a Theme (Plane Crash in C) (01:35)

15   Salute My Shorts! (Spectacular Views) (03:35)

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