“Lost your love of live/too much apple pie/and now Harris walks away/with Johnny’s wife”.
"Bizarro" probabilmente non è un disco da cinque stelle ma di sicuro contiene “Brassneck”, “Granadaland” e “Kennedy”: fino a prova contraria voi non le avete scritte, David Gedge sì. Il secondo disco dei Wedding Present presenta un suono più compatto – tight – e curato; le batterie sono più toste, le chitarre molto più rozze e distorte ed il basso sale finalmente in primo piano, dettando spesso linee melodiche laddove l’ensemble rumina un caratteristico wall of sound: un passo indietro fa la voce di Gedge, il che risulta una scelta strana, se si pensa a come il tono sommesso del lead singer debba ora combattere con una struttura di distorsione ancora più consistente. La scelta dei temi non si discosta da quella del primo album e continuerà a non discostarsi anche nei dischi successivi: Gedge saprà cantarci (quasi) sempre e (quasi) esclusivamente delle sue (para)noie sentimentali e sappiate che la cosa non mi infastidisce per nulla, ma sono disposto ad accettare obiezioni al riguardo.
Novità: si accorciano i titoli delle canzoni rispetto a "George Best", ma si allunga la durata media. I brani si chiudono spesso con code soniche, in cui si sente una vaga eco dei Velvet Underground, ed è proprio in questi frangenti che si percepisce l’abilità della band nel lavorare sulle dinamiche, riuscendo a trascendere (ma non sempre) lo spettro della monotonia: il tappeto di feedback ricorda ascolti contemporanei e se questo non è shoegaze lo si deve allo stretto legame con il concetto di canzone che mantiene i Wedding Present con i piedi per terra – mentre sta ad altri adorati contemporanei sognare nuovi mondi pop un po’ più fuori nello spazio. Non mancano tuttavia episodi rilassati nei quali spicca il tono basso da crooner di David Gedge: come mi è stato fatto notare, il ragazzo è con buona probabilità vagamente stonato e di sicuro privo di varietà, ma la sua voce risulta - alle orecchie del vostro amico e umile recensore - unica e perfetta nel definire il suono del gruppo.
Sulla scia di "Bizarro", il mammasantissima Steve Albini si interesserà alla band, producendo il terzo disco "Seamonsters" (ed una nuova versione del singolo “Brassneck”, contenuta nella ristampa su cd del disco, dove tra gli extra spicca una versione cazzara di “It’s Not Unusual” di Tom Jones – una robetta che potrebbe diventare un party classic se qualcuno mi concedesse di fare un dj-set ogni tanto): pertanto, se proprio non vi fidate di questa recensione, fidatevi di chi ha orecchie migliori delle mie e cercatelo questo disco, cercatelo.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Brassneck (04:52)
No, I sent you that letter
To ask you if the end was worth the means
Was there really no in between?
And I still don't feel better
I just wondered if it could be like before
And I think you just made me sure!
But then that's typically you
And I might have been a bit rude
But I wrote it in a bad mood
I'm not being funny with you
But it's hard to be engaging
When the things you love keep changing
Brassneck, Brassneck
I just decided I don't trust you anymore
I just decided I don't trust you anymore
First time you came over
Do you remember saying then you'd stay for good?
No I didn't think you would
Well we couldn't've been closer
But it was different then and that's all in the past
There I've said it now at last!
You grew up quicker than me
I kept so many old things
I never stopped quite hoping
I think I know what it means
It means I've got to grow up
It means you want to throw-up
Brassneck, Brassneck
I just decided I don't trust you anymore
I just decided I don't trust you anymore
I just know, you weren't listening were you?
Oh please go, whenever you prefer to
I said it means a lot, when you use an old phrase
But then so what? We can't have it both ways
I know, you're not bothered are you
Even so, I'm not going to argue
He won't object! Keep writing to me
Just don't forget you ever knew me
02 Crushed (02:44)
Somewhere, sometime
I've got to say this somehow
Oh no, it's fine
I couldn't face it just now
Oh, oh please don't use that voice
I think I've made my choice
I'd change it if I could
Oh you know I'm crushed inside
Oh goodness knows I've tried
I think I've had enough
Oh no, I swear
There's no one else I promise
The phone? Up there
But please don't leave here like this
Oh, oh please don't use that voice
I think I've made my choice
I'd change it if I could
Oh you know I'm crushed inside
Oh goodness knows I've tried
I think I've had enough
You're late, been where?
Worried sick about you
All right, take care
I'm sorry that I hurt you
Oh, oh please don't use that voice
I think I've made my choice
I'd change it if I could
Oh you know I'm crushed inside
Oh goodness knows I've tried
I think I've had enough
04 Thanks (02:23)
I bumped into Joe on Victoria Road
And he told me something
About last weekend, he knows your new boyfriend
(He said he saw it coming)
And those letters I wrote, so now I know
What you do with them
Well of course he looked, you sliced me up
And then showed it to him
He's changed around the posters on your wall
And finished all but one glass of your wine
His head's been on the pillows that I bought
And now he's seen me say "I love you" all those times
And the old photos in those silly clothes
There must be much more
God, the poems I sent and that massive dent
I left in your door
I don't want them back, you can burn the lot
I just feel betrayed
Well it's been this long and all the flesh has gone
But the bones remain
He's changed around the posters on your wall
And finished all but one glass of your wine
His head's been on the pillows that I bought
And now he's seen me say "I love you" all those times
I still can't get mad at you, no matter how I try
I still can't get mad at you, no matter how I try
05 Kennedy (04:22)
Lost your love of life?
Too much apple pie
Oh have you lost your love of life?
Too much apple pie
And now Harry's walked away with Johnny's wife
You've got to pick some people up
You've got to let some people go
But if Lee's name does come up
Oh well I really want to know
Because everybody loves a T.V. show
Lost your love of life?
Too much apple pie
Oh have you lost your love of life?
Too much apple pie
And now Harry's walked away with Johnny's wife
You've got to pick some people up
You've got to let some people go
But if Lee's name does come up
Oh well I really want to know
Because everybody loves a T.V. show
Lost your love of life?
Too much apple pie
Oh have you lost your love of life?
Too much apple pie
And now Harry's walked away with Johnny's wife (ahh)
07 Granadaland (04:50)
(center text)
Can't you come up with something better than that?
Oh I think I'd be more angry
If your answers weren't so daft!
Oh you know I could
But do you really think I would?
When you go up to Granadaland on Sundays
Sally told me that you're practically kissing his feet
Oh, but he hasn't got a car
And so your list of names brought you to me
Anda friend in need
Is a pest indeed
When she uses everybody in the way that you do
You know you're breaking my heart
I can't bear the thought of us being aprat
You know you're breaking my heart
I can't bear the thought of us being aprat
Maybe I'll see you tomorrow if you can spare me the time
Oh no, of course I didn't mean it
I still keep hoping you'll be changing your mind
Okay your choice is clear
But, please, anywhere but here
And stop trying to tell me that you know how I feel
You know you're breaking my heart
I can't bear the thought of us being aprat
You know you're breaking my heart
I can't bear the thought of us being aprat
08 Bewitched (06:43)
I'm not sure and I'm not asking
But I thought I heard you say
"I just walked past him"
But why can I never do anything before you go
I don't know
And outside the streets are empty
There was no time then
And now there's plenty
Oh why do I never get the chance to say a word
When you're on your own
If there's nothing that I want more
Why do my steps get this small
When I reach your front door
And I wait outside for you to come back out
And your light goes out
You don't know me but I'm still here
And God the last time I saw you
You were, oh, this near
And there's a thousand things I wished I'd said and done
But the moment's gone
10 Be Honest (02:43)
This is all because you didn't like my mum
Well I'm afraid I can't get born again
Oh it's not just me who's changed
And can you tell me what it is you think I said
And are you sure that it's not just in your head
And when was this anyway?
And if we're really really going to be honest
We might as well be brief
And by the way I got your little
Along with some dryness in my throat
When I saw that it came from you
Oh was it really too hard to tell me to my face
That you don't long for my embrace
The way you used to do?
And if we're really really going to be honest
We might as well be brief
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