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Rating: Yes, I know. My first review is a duplicate. The point is that to inaugurate my “active” presence on DeB, I practically felt compelled to give this disc another chance for those who haven't discovered it yet, NOT because I think my reviewing skills are better than those of the user who already talked about it some time ago, but rather because my impression is that it was dismissed as (HORROR!!!) a slightly more rock-ish version of yet another British indie band. Nothing could be further from the truth.
This "McLusky Do Dallas," ladies and gentlemen, is fucking brilliant. Rationally, I wouldn't even know what exactly drives me to love it so viscerally: there are times when you listen to a record and simply hear everything you love about music in it, everything you've always wanted to hear on an album; it's as if before recording it, they had turned to a fortune teller’s crystal ball and made a record just for me. Let's ignore unnecessary biographical information about the band easily found on Wikipedia and focus on the music: the first impression is of finding oneself in a Welsh dive, unhealthy and reeking of stale tobacco (when in the UK it was still possible to smoke indoors, alas), stoned from one damn Guinness too many (there is ALWAYS one beer too many, the one that in the end you could have done without), while a crude lout shouts incoherent phrases in our ears, ones scribbled the night before on a wet Rizla, and his two accomplices "pound" the rhythm section directly into our brain.
The musical proposition, for those in need of objective references, skillfully wanders between rough yet never predictable punk and a no-frills rock foundation that shines with the masterful Albinian production (a guarantee): it’s incredible how a 100% American producer has perfectly captured the atmosphere of such a European record: forget Oasis and the likes, those who live or, like me, have lived in London will recognize from the first two notes played by the McLusky the sounds of England. NOT the British sound, mind you, but precisely those sounds and those harsh cries heard at improbable morning hours during a quiet weekend of fear in SoHo.
One of the peculiarities of “McLusky Do Dallas” is, in my opinion, its ability to convey a sense of imminent danger without ever descending into a true sonic Apocalypse, creating a sense of anxiety mingled with a perverse fun, a bit like waiting at any moment to be charged by a herd of skinheads who until then appear suspiciously docile under the bleachers. And the best part is the disarming ease with which these three rascals from Cardiff manage to create all this almost playfully, with the air of those who aren’t even trying too hard and just want to have fun and entertain. Thus come rapid-fire, oblique references to the Star Wars saga interleaved with boisterous tales (“Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues,” a very nervous opening track), improbable portraits of picturesque characters from the band's circle of friends and drinking buddies (“Gareth Brown Says”: a band that yells at you “your mother is a ballpoint pen thief” CANNOT and MUST NOT be taken seriously) and half-serious revelations about the "amazing" habits of the three Welshmen (“we take more drugs than a funk band on tour,” from the hilarious “To Hell With Good Intentions”).
Yet there are more "serious" moments when they lash out against fake “posers” bands more concerned with look than sound (“Fuck This Band” and "Collagen Rock”) or comment with crystal-clear disillusionment on the conditions of an English society where for survival it has become necessary to strive not to think (“Dethink To Survive”) and the race towards the ephemeral represented by TV and reality show fever (“What We’ve Learned”).
For years now a personal sense of dissatisfaction with more or less all music has led me to behave less like a fan and more like a listener: I no longer have a favorite group (since sooner or later ALL legendary acts make a misstep and disappoint, and that says a lot about the status of music today), only many favorite albums regardless of genre or Author. The musical landscape is full of modest or even mediocre bands that, whether through luck, right timing, or simply because they do their job well without being geniuses, occasionally give birth to small gems destined perhaps to remain unmatched, for better or worse. And maybe that's fairer and more democratic.
In this context, what McLusky offers is an absolutely perfect album from an unlucky band that never benefited from the push of the almighty NME (which, someone pointed out to me, sadly sounds similar to "enemy" in English) and will very likely never make Music History. They quietly disbanded, and two-thirds of the band have already formed Future Of The Left and released a debut: fun, yes, interesting, sure, different, also, but it is NOT “McLusky Do Dallas.”
In short, if you want to know more, this is the album to start with. Indeed, forget about their other two albums entirely and listen only to this one, if only for the pleasure of then being able to tell someone who hurt you in the past “Your heart is the color of Coca-cola.”
LuCa.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues (01:51)
Eat what you are while you're falling apart
And it opened a can of worms
The gun's in my hand and I know it looks bad
But believe me I'm innocent
I'm fearful I'm fearful I'm fearful of flying
And flying is fearful of me
I covered my eyes when she told me the news
Turning me on with my lightsabre cocksucking blues
Are you coming?
Nicotine stained on account of her crutch
And I'm aching from fucking too much
I know what I do but it all points to you
Did you sell me to wanderlust?
I'm fearful I'm fearful I'm fearful of flying
And flying is fearful of me
I covered my eyes when she told me the news
Turning me on with my lightsabre cocksucking blues
Are you coming?
03 Collagen Rock (02:52)
The little kid pissed on the big kids porch
He thinks he's amazing he's rubbish of course
But one of those bands got paid I heard
One of those bands got paid
It's easy to say now their trainers seemed fine
and their hair was a fucking delight
But one of those bands got paid I heard
One of those bands got fake tits
Collagen rock
One of those bands got legs like you
And one of them got the stare
But one of those bands got found I heard
In a hole in Aberdare
Its easy to say now their trainers seemed fine
and their hair was a fucking delight
But one of those bands got paid I heard
One of those bands got fake tits
Collagen rock
You've got a mouth got a wonderful mouth
You've got a mouth got a wonderful mouth you got a
Collagen rock
04 What We've Learned (01:54)
He's a wise guy flys right by because
He put it all in to get on television
He's a wise guy flys right by because
He put it all in to get on television
Including, but not exclusive to
Should have known better and we do
He's got nothing left to say because
He gave it all up to be on television
He's got nothing left to say because
He gave it all up to be on television
Including, but not exclusive to
Should have known better and we do
05 Day of the Deadringers (03:01)
This one's for the patriots
The new wave good time girls
And if it wasn't for the decepticons
They'd rule the fucking world
In the midst of all the killing and skineating
W we forgot about the loving
If I had to choose a woman then I think I'd choose religion
If I had to give you something then I think I'd give you nothing
If I had to give you something then I think I'd go to hell
This ones for the dancers
The dockers and the dykes
And if it weren't for Asian basin sales
They couldn't sleep at night
In the midst of all the touching and kissing
We forget the penetration
If I had to drive you somewhere then I'd drive you to the station
If I had to give you something then I think I'd give you nothing
If I had to give you something then I think I'd go to hell
In the midst of all the killing and skineating
We forgot about the loving
If I had to choose a woman then I think I'd choose religion
If I had to give you something then I think I'd give you nothing
If I had to give you something then I think I'd
In the middle of the action they reversed the interaction
And the audience decided ignorance actually was bliss
You're a fortress in a foreign land you should ask for it
Like you mean it like you mean it
In the middle of the ohmygoditsgone
We talked in code to get along
Private riddles for private courts
08 To Hell With Good Intentions (02:25)
My love is bigger than your love
We take more drugs than a touring funk band
Sing it
My love is bigger than your love
Sing it
My love is bigger than your love
Sing it
My band is better than your band
We've got more songs than a song convention
Sing it
My love is bigger than your love
Sing it
My love is bigger than your love
Sing it
And we're all going straight to hell
My dad is bigger than your dad
He's got eight cars and a house in Ireland
Sing it
My love is bigger than your love
Sing it
My love is bigger than your love
Sing it
When we gonna torch the restaurant?
Sing it
When we gonna pay the guide dog?
Sing it
My love is bigger than your love
Sing it
My love is bigger than your love
Sing it
And we're all going straight to hell
My love is bigger than your love
We take more drugs than a touring funk band
Sing it
My love is bigger than your love
Sing it
My love is bigger than your love
Sing it
When we gonna torch the restaurant?
Sing it
When we gonna get excited?
Sing it
My love is bigger than your love
Sing it
My love is bigger than your love
Sing it
And we're all going straight to hell
10 The World Loves Us and Is Our Bitch (02:23)
You need some cokecokecokecoke inspiration
For your seven year itch
She said its just that your songs been playing too long
The world loves us and is our bitch
Hiding in the water
Under the sea
Under the water
We've got all the money
Hello
You need some condescension
For your elegant witch
She said its just that your songs been playing too long
The world loves us and is our bitch
Accidents happen where the rain won't go
God is a colour that we can't let go
And faith is admission that we just can't win
And we are just a part of this
And we are just a part of this
Relatives matter when your legs don't work
Ky ky std
Alcohol matters when you can't be free
And love is eternal 'til it isn't anymore
Love is eternal 'til it isn't anymore
Love is eternal 'til it isn't anymore
Love is eternal 'til it isn't anymore
I try to cry but I'm just too tall
I try to cry but I'm just too tall
Cos accidents happen where the rain won't go
Accidents happen where the rain won't go
11 Alan Is a Cowboy Killer (04:09)
Pull up my pants
Now the camera crew has gone
In your statement to the police
Tell them how you turned me on
But you were such an ugly child
You were such an awkward child
But you were such a stupid child
We should've cottoned on
Alan is a cowboy killer
Take up Tai Chi
Now your favorite pet has died
We had crazy fucking times
'Till her visa card expired
But you were such an ugly child
You were such an awkward child
But you were such a stupid child
We should've cottoned on
Alan is a cowboy killer
Wipe up his mess
Pay your fluffers by the yard
How you're paying for your peace
How you're paying for your peace
But you were such an ugly child
You were such an awkward child
But you were such a stupid child
We should've cottoned on
That Alan is a cowboy killer (x15)
Alan is a cowboy killer
13 Chases (01:47)
Don't go fucking in the barn because the barn's on fire
Look out below
Look at them go
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By LeSSaVyFaV
These Anglo-Saxon guys manage to put in their songs ideas and genius that only the greatest possess.
A masterpiece that everyone should listen to, because records like this are and will always be few and far between.
