Galaxie 500
Today

THE REVIEW

They are called the five hundredth galaxy, but in reality, they were a brilliant meteor, Dean Wareham, Damon Krukowski, and Naomi Yang, respectively guitar, drums, and bass of the New York Band. They highlight again towards the end of the '80s the more melodic and at the same time psychedelic side of fellow citizens Velvet Underground with a poetic style that is by no means out of place to define as Barrettian, combined with the spirit and attitude of the '80s Underground, which proved so effective for the development of much of the '90s Rock both in songwriting and sound.

 "Today" from 1988 is the first of the three studio gems offered to us by these admirers of a Ford model, where they immediately showcase a simple sound, but in its emotional intimacy,  rich in nuances. Curious is the phrase obtained by joining the succession of their three album titles, Today, On Fire, This Is Our Music (Today, on fire, this is our music), practically encapsulating the overwhelming passion that "burns" within their art.

The album in question contains Rock nursery rhymes, fairy-tale and dreamy like "Oblivious" and "Flowers",  Shoegaze prototypes very close to the finished product ("Tugboat"), to share with their contemporaries the direct guitars of Jesus & Mary Chain, combined with the cerebral and cathartic sound of Spacemen 3 with a Dream-Pop aftertaste. It's impossible to forget the instrumental track contained in the album, an example of how music can be universal, a base upon which one can imagine both shouted and whispered vocals, a child of the Post-Punk attitude with reverberations and Folk-Rock suggestions reminiscent of Younghiana, a track that almost has the flavor of music from certain Dinosaur Jr. and the early Yo La Tengo, in its sound progression that is so aggressive yet melodic ("Instrumental"). Even more fundamental is the influence of Jonathan Richman, and it's no coincidence there's the cover "Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste".

 I often wonder what the right season is to associate with listening to an album; this could be a hybrid sound between spring and fall, but I think any moment is the right one to listen to them.