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La sincerità, in musica, è una qualità molto soggettiva e molto dibattuta che non per forza coincide con la bravura. Anzi, sono pochi gli artisti che le hanno entrambe, ed ancora di meno sono gli artisti che, avendole entrambe, raggiungono il successo.
Questi quattro musicisti del New Jersey, però, sono tra i più sinceri giovani artisti che io abbia sentito da parecchio tempo. Il loro album d’esordio, "Sink Or Swim" (versione inglese di “O la va o la spacca”), con musica punk arrabbiata e sporca e testi che omaggiano – a volte quasi plagiano – in maniera filologica la tradizione storica del cantautorato americano, da Springsteen a Petty a Dylan a Waits ai Creedence Clearwater Revival. Le immagini, in particolare, le storie di corse in macchina con vecchie Cadillac, diner aperti fino all’alba e fughe notturne sulla spiaggia ricordano la mitologia dello Springsteen dei primi tre album.
Sia chiaro, siamo ancora davanti ad un lavoro piuttosto acerbo, registrato con l’urgenza di una band che aveva trovato un sound specifico e desiderava ardentemente entrare sulla scena; alcune canzoni, come Boomboxes and dictionaries o I’da called you Woody, Joe, omaggio al fondatore dei Clash, sembrano dei riempitivi, e la canzone che chiude l’album Red at night è uno scialbo country-folk che lascia il tempo che trova.
Nella parte centrale dell’album, però, si trova una bellissima selezione di gemme. Dalla nostalgia di We came to dance, che celebra la morte del rock and roll, al dolore esplosivo di 1930, dedicata alla nonna del cantante morta di Alzheimer (You said "I love you more than the stars in the sky,/But your name just escapes me tonight."), all’oscurità dantesca di The Navesink Banks, probabilmente la più bella canzone acustica scritta dal gruppo finora, all’addio di We’re getting a divorce, you keep the diner, che meritava di essere la chiusura dell’album.
Il cantante non ha una voce intonata, ma, nonostante la giovane età, roca e vissuto al punto giusto; la band non è di virtuosisti, ma il suono è tirato e coeso.
In conclusione, ci troviamo davanti ad un album di esordio ottimo, nonostante alcuni eccessi e riempitivi, errori che poi i Gaslight Anthem sono riusciti a limare nei successivi dischi, forse perdendo un po’ della spontaneità che tuttavia continua ed essere una delle loro qualità principi.
Elenco tracce testi e video
05 1930 (03:44)
Give me mercy and I need it now, I�m a bleed a little poison out, I�m a cry a little river down and then I�m setting this whole thing on fire, and I�m burning up the night she died and I�m putting every last picture aside I�m gonna say what I need to say, in my very last letter to you, cuz you always made it clear, said that you�d never be my pain. So here�s to you when you cried baby blues And just paused a cool to refrain And you said she was satisfied and this body�s just waiting to die and I could listen sometimes but you said its alright its just a whole lot harder alone. But I wish you knew her now, she�s a better side of me now, and I�m doing the best I can, its what you wanted, and I sing like you were there and I knew it was just how you would smile Mary you looked just like it was 1930 that night. But hear the nights they will eat you alive, but I won�t give in tonight, You said its not worth my time and not to record them, And not to settle just a piece of mind but I can wait it out all night, And we keep on breathing [sigh] But Mary I found a sound and this heart keeps pouring it out and the glory has come, but its probably gonna fade like the tattoo that hides this shame and the reasons always fade and the pain gets out some day and I�m saying my goodbyes deeply wise cuz I don�t know how to say Stay still in the pain But I wish you knew her now, she�s a better side of me now, and I�m doing the best I can, its what you wanted, and I sing like you were there and I knew it was just how you smile Mary you looked just like it was 1930 that night If I recall the last thing you said to me, before we broke up, before it took you from me, and you said I love you more than the stars in the sky but your aliveness just gets me tonight
09 Angry Johnny and the Radio (03:00)
Don't think twice,
I still believe it John.
We Lived those nights,
Like we were dying.
On the long haul drive,
For our Amaria.
With the ragged sails high,
And the radio on.
And I always have remembered,
In case you're wondering,
84 takes a lifetime,
And Bobby does it better.
I still sing 'em ragged for you and Maria.
I don't drive nowhere,
Without the radio on.
And I'm still here singin',
Thinking about the government,
In my old man shoes,
And how you'd understand that.
Are you hidin' in a basement,
Mixing up the medicine?
Every April Fool's I say your name,
I know your name.
I still know your name.
And I always have remembered,
In case you're wondering,
84 takes a lifetime,
And Bobby does it better.
I still sing 'em ragged for you and Maria.
I don't drive nowhere,
Without the radio on.
On, and on, and on, and on...
1, 2...
1, 2, 3, 4...
And I always have remembered,
In case you're wondering,
84 takes a lifetime,
And Bobby does it better.
I still sing 'em ragged for you and Maria.
I don't drive nowhere,
Without the radio on.
We always loved the sad sad songs.
We always loved the sad sad songs.
We always loved the sad sad songs.
We always loved the sad sad...
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