In un mondo perfetto i Two Gallants sarebbero un gruppo di successo, su TRL i loro video occuperebbero costantemente le prime posizioni e le adolescenti intaserebbero le linee con i loro sms sconci per Adam e Tyson (si potrebbe obiettare che in un mondo perfetto non esisterebbe TRL ma insomma, reggetemi il gioco).
Ed invece no, il nostro è un mondo un pò pazzariello ed i Two Gallants sono un gruppo di nicchia, di quelli che piacciono tanto a noi debasici, noi con le nostre maglie a righe, i nostri myspace e le nostre allstar. Amici di infanzia da San Francisco, i due ragazzi sono arrivati al terzo lavoro in studio, il secondo per la Saddle Creek di Oberst dopo il brillante "What the Toll Tells", uscito appena 12 mesi fa.
Il disco, che non ha titolo e che quindi chiameremo "Two Gallants" rappresenta un'ulteriore tappa verso la definitiva maturazione artistica del duo. Sin dalla intro, "the Deader" (uno dei momenti migliori) si può infatti percepire il miglioramento nel songwriting che unito ad un lavoro di produzione molto curato, conferisce al disco uno spessore sicuramente superiore rispetto al passato.
Quello che non cambia però è la qualità dei testi, fattore questo che separa i Two Gallants dalla maggior parte dei gruppi di oggi e li rende così affascinanti ed allo stesso tempo "difficili". Le loro liriche sono infatti vere e proprie "opere letterarie" (non a caso lo stesso nome del gruppo deriva da un brano di "Gente di Dublino" di Joyce ...so much for TRL) scritti in un inglese classico e molto evocativo. Un ascoltatore attento può cogliere numerosi riferimenti alla letteratura inglese ed americana, all'epopea del west ed ai grandi maestri del country-folk, da Woody Guthrie a Bob Dylan, passando per Johnny Cash, da cui ereditano il gusto nel trattare le storie di rinnegati, assassini e prostitute. Parere molto accorato di chi vi scrive: nell'ascolto dei 2GS non si può prescindere dalla lettura e dalla compresione degli splendidi testi; un po' come dire, parafrasando un celebre spot: "se non ti lecchi le dita godi solo a metà".
Tornando alla musica vera e propria, come detto sopra, il songwriting è migliorato e troviamo finalmente pezzi più immediati ed accattivanti ("The Deader", "The Hand that Held Me Down" , "Reflection of the Marionette", "Despite what You've Been Told") oltre alle struggenti nenie che sono il marchio di fabbrica del duo. Si tratta di brani lunghi, scarni e di una intimità quasi disarmante ma che riescono comunque a non essere pesanti e ad appassionare l'ascoltatore ("Trembling of the Rose", "Ribbons on my Tongue", "My Baby's Gone"). E' in questi pezzi che l'animo tormentato di Adam Stephens si mostra senza veli, la voce si fa straziante, accompagnata in modo sublime dalla chitarra.
Questo "Two Gallants" è un ottimo disco. I due ragazzi di Friscosi sono conquistati un discreto seguito girando e rigirando l'America e l'Europa in tour, facendo leva solo sulla loro ottima musica.
Dategli un ascolto, se lo meritano.
Elenco tracce testi e video
04 Drive My Car ()
You don’t listen when he says,
That you don’t love him for his brain but for his head,
So pretty and so safe and so misread,
You don’t need this kid,
Could it be this kid?,
And when all the hate you throw,
Is all you really need to cut him from below,
Seems like everyone got tickets to the show,
To watch your cheeks go red,
Could it be this kid?
But the girl you speak, so goddamn dangerous,
Could it be you’re just like the rest of us?
And though you try you know you can’t escape from us,
When all he hears is the curse of what you did,
And all he knows is the need to keep you hid.
Could it be this kid?
And when all your nights have come,
Each as gallant and as faithless as this one.
He be nothing more than just another one,
Another past you hid.
You hid it from this kid.
And as the wind instains your face,
You know there’s no-one but yourself who’s out of place.
So fearful and so lost in his embrace.
You don’t need this kid.
Could it be this kid?
But the girl you speak, so goddamn dangerous,
Could it be you’re just like the rest of us?
And though you try you know you can’t escape from us,
When all he hears is the curse of what you did,
And all he knows is the need to keep you hid.
Could it be this kid?
“It’s hard” she said “my fortune’s been quite hard”
“It’s hard” she said “my fortune’s been quite hard”
“this card” he said “don’t play that victim card”
“this card” he said “don’t play that victim card”
“stars” she said “this fate is crossed with stars”
“it’s god” he said “it’s that I’ll disregard”
“this jar” he said “I’ll leave the door ajar”
“this car” he said “cos you should drive my car”
“has this gone much too far?” she said
“has this gone much too far?”
“I don’t know who you are”
“I don’t know who you are”
just before you break in two, one last thing he’ll say to you.
one last thing that’s best unheard, should it be unsaid?
I gave you more than you could take,
All that put was more at stake.
You keep your trophies on the wall,
Well I’ll take the door instead,
Cos you don’t need this kid.
But the girl you speak, so goddamn dangerous,
Could it be you’re just like the rest of us?
And though you try you know you can’t escape from us,
When all he hears is the curse of what you did,
And all he knows is the need to keep you hid.
Could it be this kid?
05 The Throes ()
Well I don’t know if I can take this anymore,
She’s thinking as he shoves (her) against the wall,
Screaming “well then what good are you for,
you don’t give me no pleasure at all”
oh now I know I need to leave so she tells herself again,
wipes a little blood upon her sleeve,
but she don’t tell herself when.
And the baby starts a-crying,
Daddy sits back down,
Sinks another drink to bring his temper down.
And it’s in each they’re reflecting on the tv screen,
It reminds her of a better day,
She thought she’d seen.
But now take your time before you grieve,
And keep your heart held off your sleeve,
Cos ain’t no-one but you deceived,
Your sympathy is soon to leave.
And now hide your mouth before you speak,
Better yet just turn a cheek,
Watch your interest growing weak,
But still you say that I’m the freak,
And I guess that’s fine with me.
But he’s probably had a long, long day,
She’s thinking in the kitchen while she weeps,
Putting dinner’s left-overs away,
As he stumbles off to bed and then to sleep.
And surely he’ll be better come the dawn,
When I rise to cook him breakfast ‘fore he goes,
Wakes without a word and then he’s gone,
He’s got that kinda love that never shows.
And baby starts a-wailing and daddy comes back out,
“shut up that child” she hears him shout,
and cradled in her arms she tries to calm the sound.
“how am I to sleep” he screams and slaps her down.
But now take your time before you grieve,
And keep your heart held off your sleeve,
Cos ain’t no-one but you deceived,
Your sympathy is soon to leave.
And now hide your mouth before you speak,
Better yet just turn a cheek,
Watch your interest growing weak,
But still you say that I’m the freak,
And I guess that’s fine with me.
When she wakes her head don’t cease to pain
Bodies broken and her clothes all torn away,
Still the threat of emptiness remains,
As she struggles to her feet to get away,
“help, where has my child gone” she screams
as she runs from room to room,
every sound of silence lingers on,
not a single kick inside her womb.
And her mind drowns in the shadows,
Mama falls back down,
Where the walls that shape her world seem taller from the ground
And no more breath to scream, her throat just drips away,
And no more life to lose as if there were to save.
But now take your time before you grieve,
And keep your heart held off your sleeve,
Cos ain’t no-one but you deceived,
Your sympathy is soon to leave.
And now hide your mouth before you speak,
Better yet just turn a cheek,
Watch your interest growing weak,
But still you say that I’m the freak,
And I guess that’s fine with me.
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