Pana si avvicinò alla musica diciamo circa quattro anni fa. Ovviamente non sono un privilegiato e sto compiendo la mia gavetta e ho passato anch'io la fase in cui ascoltavo i soliti supergruppi strafamosi convinto che niente al mondo fosse meglio. Ero in un gruppo facebook di minchioni come me in cui si condivideva la musica da minchioni che piaceva a me. Un bel giorno, qualche utente postò un video che non erano né gli Ac/Dc, né i Guns 'n Roses, e lì capì subito che non si trattava di un evento non ordinario. questa persona voleva allertarci di una grande minaccia incombente su tutta l'umanità: un gruppo aveva osato scrivere una canzone chiamata "I Hate Led Zeppelin". Il ragazzo più preparato musicalmente ci avvertì che "era un bel gruppo", "è comune dei punk denigrare i big" e cose simili, ma ovviamente non venne cagato.
Tutto ciò per dire che qualche tempo fa, forte di una diversa preparazione, che pure resta ben lungi dall'essere completa, questi Screeching Weasel mi tornarono in mente con prepotenza. Mi procuro quindi Boogadaboogadaboogada e questo "My Brain Hurts". Per chi non lo sapesse, Gli Screeching Weasel fanno punk coscientemente melodico venato di hardcore e condito con tanta ignoranza. I due dischi mi hanno colpito fin da subito, e grazie alla loro digeribilità li ho massacrati di ascolti.
My Brain Hurts è sintetico (solo la title track finale supera i tre minuti) e ispiratissimo. Anche i brani più orecchiabili non perdono la carica (secondo l'eminente esempio dei Ramones) e in alcuni questi elementi si combinano con equilibrio magistrale (Veronica Hates Me, Science of Myth) plasmando dei veri e propri capolavori del genere. Qualche brano si avvicina troppo al gruppo di Forest Hills (Cindy's On Methadone, Why Don't You Go Away) risultando meno originale ma comunque dignitoso, mentre qualcuno (come l'iniziale Making You Cry) si rifà musicalmente parlando all'hardcore più maturo. La padronanza del gruppo, unita al suo stato di grazia, gli permette di connotare ottimamente ogni brano, che vengono ogni tanto farciti da note di piano (deliziosamente idiote in Teenage Freakshow), battiti di mani o singolari onomatopee e che nonostante la loro brevità sanno evolversi, conferendogli quella imprevedibilità e quella riconoscibilità che possono essere un po' il punto debole di certo punk (qui qualche purista mi ucciderà, ma considerate che non vivo di questo genere). In qualche brano si prova anche la strada di testi un po' impegnati (Il conflitto spiritualità/scienza di Science of Myth, senz'altro il capolavoro del disco) con risultati non fantasmagorici ma quanto meno dignitosi. Impossibile citare un brano in cui l'approccio vocale non sia ottimo. Graficamente parlando, trovo splendida la copertina.
Un disco che non posso non segnalare e consigliare, con molti brani a mio avviso bellissimi e gli altri comunque buoni. E mi scuso se non parlo da esperto del genere (già mi vedo Pinhead, vestito da boia, pronto a darmi il benservito) e se di conseguenza la mia analisi dovesse presentare qualche mostruosità. Intanto butto qui questa recensione, poi magari qualcuno lo descriverà in termini più consoni...
D'altronde, si può amare Guernica anche senza essere critici d'arte.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
02 Slogans (01:38)
Words are stirring
your anger's burning
You could really use a
slogan right now
Eighteen and feeling pretty mean
cause you're sick and fucking
tired out being pushed
around and around
Up and fucking down
You wanna believe
there's an answer well
there's not and the funny
thing about it is that two
hours later they're just words
that you seem to have forgot
Don't think about what's right
or wrong just leave the
thinking to your boss
Do what you're supposed to now
Your heart is pounding
your feet hit the ground
You wanna see some
action right now
Feeling strong gonna right
some wrong gonna raise your
banner and stand up tall and proud
Don't tell me ideology has a
thing to do with it
You like to think you're
different but you're all one
fucked up power trip
And I really don't give a shit
what you happen to believe in
Now you can finally begin
to feel like you fit in
Don't ever listen to yourself
You'll fuck it up just like
you always do
Someone will be there to
explain your job so do it
03 Guest List (02:26)
I was hanging out at the show
feeling like a fat potato
I don't know what I'm doing here
I saw her at the door and
she looked as bored as me
so I got her in
I put her on the guest list
at the show and now I get
to watch her dance like
the other weirdos do
I saw she brought a camera
She did the groin-o-rama and
we were really having fun
I told her I was the lead singer
I felt like Harvey Klinger and
then she smacked me in the head
04 Veronica Hates Me (02:52)
She always has something to say to ruin an otherwise nice day
She always has to start a fight
She doesn't like the way I think
She don't understand why i must drink to go out on Friday night
But I know what she's doing
I know that I'm losing
I know that she's screwing me
Veronica doesn't like the way I dress
Veronica thinks my hair is such a mess
Why the deposition?
Veronica's definition of love is hate
Veronica hates me
She thinks I oughtta get a job
and quit taking up space on her couch
with my hand deep in my crotch
She don't know how to shut her mouth
I don't know what I'd do without
her to drag me down
She asks me when is the wedding
and I'm getting ready
to yank out the net and push
05 I Can See Clearly (02:17)
I can see clearly now the rain is gone
I can see all obsticals in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It's gonna be a bright sunshiney day
I think I can make it now the rain is gone
All of the bad feelings have dissapeared
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It's gonna be a bright sunshiney day
06 Cindy's on Methadone (01:27)
Cindy's On Methadone
Cindy's on methadone
she's through with the syringe
Cindy's on methadone
she's off on heroin
Cindy's on methadone
we're glad to have her home
She slept in vomit now
she sleep on methadone but she
stopped ripping off her neighbors
stopped taking change from strangers
stopped shooting needles full of
dreams into her arms
Cindy's on methadone
we see it in her eyes
Sounds so much better
but it's just another high
she stopped calling at three thirty
stopped looking thin and dirty
stopped screaming bloody murder
when she got cut off
Why don't you stop with
your fake solutions
stop covering up the truth and
stop trying to make things
smooth and stop acting
09 Teenage Freakshow (02:33)
Lucky you lucky me
You're a threat to our community
Mom don't like the way
you look you're straight
out of a comic book
It's a teenage freakshow
Funny hair and acting bored
don't seem to matter anymore
Everything's already been done
and we don't know what we want
It's a teenage freakshow
Now I can't handle staring
into space and I can't stand
the stupid look on your face
I can't handle refusing to change
and I can't handle the same
old same old from you
Cause I'm sick and tired of you
There ain't nothing to do
It's time for change
We don't know what
We sit around collecting dust
I don't wanna get high
I don't wanna dance but
everybody's got an answer
10 Kamala's Too Nice (01:22)
She took me into her lovely home
Called her best friend Kaci on the phone read Art of Loving by Erich Fromme
She made enchiladas for me man
I won't take advantage of her and
I won't even ask her to book my band
Kamala's too nice I'm such a dick
Kamala's too nice and I'm a pig
Kamala's too nice she makes me sick
I sit in her apartment acting rude
Eat mashed potatoes in the nude
She don't care cause she's totally way rad dude
I keep her television on all night
And then I start up a fight
And tell her she's wrong cause I'm always right
11 Don't Turn Out the Lights (02:37)
Don't turn out the
lights tonight
I need a can of Raid
Ants will crawl inside my ears
and nibble on my brain
There's something by the window
and it wants to get inside
and it's waiting for the dark
so it can eat me up alive
You never listen when I call
I end up sleeping in the hall
Cause you're to busy with
important things
You smile and say that
you believe but
you're not listening to me
and now they're coming to get me
Why don't you believe
it's not all inside my head
Something wants to eat me
and it lives underneath my bed
I gotta keep the lights on
or I'll never get to sleep
Cause there's something
in this bedroom
and it's giving me the creeps
I try to tell you that I'm scared
you act like you don't even care
You just pat me on the head
and walk away
You're gabbing downstairs
on the phone
You leave me in the dark alone
and now I'm gonna stay
up all night
Don't turn out the lights
12 Fathead (01:24)
Why don't you beat it why don't you go away
You smelly butt why don't you go away
You're just a turd why don't you go away
Sit on it nerd why don't you go away
Dummy dummy dummy dummy dummy dummy
Why don't you go away
Why don't you beat it why don't you go away
You little assface why don't you go away
Your mother's calling why don't you go away
Too cool for me why don't you go away
Punky the fathead why don't you go away
Baby baby baby baby baby baby when you see me
Why don't you go away
Dummy dummy dummy dummy dummy dummy why don't you beat it?
Why don't you go away
You think we suck why don't you go away
Come to the show why don't you go away
We got your money why don't you go away
So who's the dope why don't you go away
Punky punky punky punky punky punky go fart in a puddle
Why don't you go away
Beat it Scram Go away
14 My Brain Hurts (03:07)
Time gets wasted every day I watch the minutes tick away My brain is
melting like a chocolate ice cream bar Like characters on TV these people
look like maggots to me and I wonder what the hell is wrong with me Milk
fed little beauty queen she's straight out of a magazine she sits beside me
breathing different air than me The perfect generation sees that I'm
infected with disease and everything just crumbles and there's nothing left
If i wanna do something right I gotta do it myself or someone else will
fuck it up It isn't all black and white and now it's time to stop and
figure out reality No one knows what they're talking about if what they're
talking about don't making any sense to me I gotta figure it out cause I
don't want something to believe in
Carico i commenti... con calma