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Rating:
Don't be misled by the band's name, Galaxie 500, in perfect 1980s synth-pop style, and don't pay too much attention to the album's title either, "On Fire," as you won't find any sonic blaze. If you're looking for a clue, you might want to note their origin, Boston, contemporaries and fellow citizens of the Pixies.
"On Fire" is the album of artistic consecration for these three now former youths, who, after graduating from Harvard, sparked a small revolution by going back to basics—as always in rock history—with a bass, a guitar, and a drum. The album reveals itself upon first listening, hiding no secrets in its simplicity, with three chords per song played without any particular quirks, a bass weaving melodies, a drum soft as a cloud carpet upon which a dazed and dreamy voice cradles.
The predominant mood is one of melancholy and intimacy, tracks with weak shades and unclear contours, with a repetitiveness and slowness with a typically psychedelic flavor.
It is the kind of album one can sink into, wrapped in the liquid and expansive emotions of Tell Me or Snowstorm, where the wah-wah and New Zealander Wareham's falsetto seem to evoke the nostalgia of a dream that's now vanished, then make way for the distorted insistence of When Will You Come Home, or the sax-flavored alienation of Decomposing Trees. There's even room for a tribute to George Harrison with Isn't It A Pity to close the album, so deeply internalized that it seems a natural outlet of the previous tracks.
Many will give credit to Galaxie 500, artistic fathers of slowcore and shoegazer, genres that will see much recognition in the '90s, with bands like Slowdive, Low, Codeine, and others. However, they are no more; Galaxie 500 ceased to exist after only 5 years in 1991 due to profound misunderstandings and personal differences. Dean Wareham would go on to form Luna, while Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang would continue to play together, with Kramer (the historic producer) often appearing in both new projects.
It's a pity, we know that for every galaxy that disappears, the universe becomes a bit poorer... at least we are left with this indelible photo.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Blue Thunder (03:48)
Thinkin' of blue thunder
Singin' to myself
Thinkin' how fast it moves
Feelin how it turns
I was singin' somethin
Out on Route 128
Thinkin how blue it looks
Singin out aloud
My my blue thunder
My my blue thunder
My my blue thunder
Singin' out aloud
My my blue thunder
My my blue thunder
My my blue thunder
Singin' out aloud
I'll drive so far away
I'll drive so far away
I'll drive so far away
I'll drive so far away
Blue thunder
Blue thunder
Blue thunder
Blue thunder
02 Tell Me (03:51)
Tell me one more time
you like the shoes I wear
tell me as you leave
you really couldn't care
I bought all the drinks
and I paid for your friends
Jesus can't you see
I'm going round the bends
Step into my shoes
and see things as I do
step inside this house
you know I'd love you to
howcome you can't see
the things you left behind
howcome you can't see
I'm going round the bends
03 Snowstorm (05:12)
Well I listen to the weather
And he's changed his tone of voice
And he can see it on the radar
Only seven hours away
Well there's gonna be a snowstorm
When the t.v.'s goin out
And they got nothin else to think of
And they're letting me go home
Well I'm lookin at the snowflakes
And they all look the same
And the clouds are goin by me
They're playin some kind of game
Well you know there's a snowstorm
When the t.v. has gone out
And they got nothin else to think of
And they're letting me go home
04 Strange (03:17)
Why's everybody actin funny?
Why's everybody look so strange?
Why's everybody look so nasty?
What do I want with all these things?
I went alone down to the drugstore
I went in back and took a Coke
I stood in line and ate my Twinkies
I stood in line, I had to wait
Why's everybody actin funny?
Why's everybody look so strange?
Why's everybody look so pretty?
What do I want with all these things?
I went alone down to the drugstore
I went in back and took a Coke
I stood in line and ate my Twinkies
I stood in line, I had to wait
05 When Will You Come Home (05:21)
When, when will you come home?
Watchin' T.V. all alone
Watchin' Kojak on my own
Starin' at the wall
And waitin' for your call
When, when will you come home?
Now, I'm crawlin' on the floor
Makin' noises like a dog
Makin' noises you can't hear
Starin' at the wall
And waitin' for your call
When, when will you come home?
06 Decomposing Trees (04:06)
My toes can talk
And they're smiling at me
"Come down," they say
Not afraid anymore
And they talk to me
And they smile at me
I walked upstream
And I sat in the mud
Life sucks again
Watching trees decompose
And they talk to me
And they smiled at me
09 Plastic Bird (03:17)
And when I left your place
Gave me your plastic bird
You won it at the festival
Well I broke both legs off
And then I broke its nose
And left it on First Avenue
And when I left your place
Gave me your plastic bird
You won it at the festival
Well I broke both legs off
And then I smashed its nose
And left it on First Avenue
10 Isn't It a Pity (05:11)
Isn't it a pity
Isn't it a shame
How we break each other's hearts
And cause each other pain?
How we take each other's love
Without thinking anymore
Forgetting to give back
Isn't it a pity?
Some things take so long
And how do I explain?
But not too many people
Can see we're all the same
And because of all their tears
Their eyes can't hope to see
The beauty that surrounds them
Oh isn't it a pity?
Isn't it a pity
Isn't it a shame
How we break each other's hearts
And cause each other pain?
How we take each other's love
Without thinking anymore
Forgetting to give back
Isn't it a pity?
Forgetting to give back
Isn't it a pity?
Forgetting to give back
Isn't it a pity?
What a pity
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Other reviews
By CosmicJocker
"All that remains of the fire are its ashes, the smell of smoke."
"That bloodless and stern voice, a ghost wandering among precarious and creaking harmonies that seem like they might fall apart if looked at a little more closely."
By Caspasian
This “whining” is indispensable to me because in this record... are all my weaknesses, my insecurities, melancholy, sadness, my adolescence and youth.
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