Intelligence
Deuteronomy

Gentlemen, we will soon be in full recession. It's undeniable. From the major political-economic scholars to our Third Worldist minister Threemounts, everyone is preparing us for the sad, inevitable event. Think about it: mortgage payment (fixed rate, hopefully), two, three consumer credit Rids (plural), credit card (only solution, mind you), car insurance, bills, condominium expenses, eating, dressing, and pizza on Friday night. Assuming all this is still sustainable in a few months, how do we handle discretionary spending that hits us closer to home? By how much will we have to reduce the budget for CDs, DVDs, records per month? It's terrifying to think about.

It's equally true that there are people who would rather not change their thirteen-year-old car or still live with their parents, just not to touch the excessive need for new music releases, but - let's be serious - if we want to stay grounded and simultaneously stay updated on new releases, we need to do something! Music magazines certainly don't help us: according to them, a good part of the reviewed records "cannot be missing in a respectable discography." Yes, I understand, but if for this, I must give up changing the torn car mat or just take five days of vacation in Spotorno, something doesn't add up!

So, let's help each other, brothers and sisters! Let's have a little austerity. A small step would be not to exaggerate the value of an album with inexplicably always high scores. Assuming the DeBaser powerhouses don't apply a scale from 1 to 10 (I haven't understood why: is it a calculated choice, or is it a technical programming problem? - remember the Millennium Bug? - but I doubt the latter hypothesis because I am used to checking daily the software marvels and engineering surprises of the site), then I would suggest taking inspiration from the always criticized Piero Scaruffi to create a predetermined value scale that could be: score 1 indisputably bad album, can be done without for sure - 2 for completists, buy if you're a fan - 3 nice album, buy if you feel something of theirs and if you like them, maybe - 4 buy it immediately, it's an album of great importance - 5 absolute masterpiece. And that it be a scale valid for everyone! It's not like someone can just arrive calmly and start giving out 5s like candy. And then the samples, gentlemen, it's really easy to make them, even I managed!

And the Intelligence? Ah yes, the Intelligence! So, with my new value scale, this record gets a 3, and it's a high score, mind you! They are an interesting band from the In The Red stable that happily wallows in that immense murky puddle that lies between the eighties post-punk (Wire, Gang of Four, PIL), the raucous low-profile garage so fashionable (Black Lips), and the fifties stomp sounds (Cramps). Punk attitude mixed with intelligent and unusual sonic ideas that often surprise and do not leave one indifferent. A certain acidic aftertaste reminiscent of Mothers Of Invention doesn't spoil the formula, quite the opposite! It makes this album even more intriguing. Recommended for those, like me, who cannot stand the art-electronic drift that seems to dominate this year, which is really poor from a musical point of view.

Buy it, eventually.