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A rainy afternoon in 1999 I was at home watching TV, and Red Ronnie was introducing an emerging rock band on tmc2, with a frontman sporting long black hair, dark complexion, generous eyeliner, and markedly Indian features. My Vitriol...
"What a lousy name," I turned off the TV without thinking twice and went back to drown in boredom in other rooms.
Big mistake.
Finelines is a beautiful album, considering it’s the debut album of a band that literally came out of nowhere, everything is even more magical and interesting.
16 tracks.
Need to press Skip on the player: zero.
The singer's voice is clear and wonderfully melodic, yet desperately angry and lost within reverberations of dreamlike and deep sounds. The sound is typically American, in the realm of grunge, with the addition of labyrinthine tones and significant psychedelic loops, delay effects combined with the power of some sharp riffs (I suppose they have a wide array of pedals at their disposal live).
In other words, there's nothing in common with the new raw and dry sounds of various Strokes and White Stripes; rather, one could say that My Vitriol is the right combination of nirvana (to whom they owe much), Verve, and a touch of seventies-progressive (The Nice?? Well, I don't know…).
Indie rock enthusiasts cannot miss this appointment with this work. Entirely arpeggiated and clean songs ("Taprobane"), others dirty, only riffs and octaves in fast sequences, broken by rasping screams alternating with a singing always perfectly in tune and a basic melody always very catchy ("Losing Touch," "Pieces," "Always Your Way").
The single that should have launched them in Europe is "Grounded," to whose video (as beautiful as it is absurd and twisted) participated someone who made being alternative a must in life, Vincent Gallo.
If you don't want to buy this gem because you are still skeptical, download one of the tracks I mentioned or ask someone who already has this album at home, and if they tell you it's not worth it... don't believe them!
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
02 Always: Your Way (03:50)
Another day is gone
Some other time maybe I'd come out
And step into the sun
A little time ago
I didn't wanna see us falling out
But everything has gone
I wish I could, sometimes I wish I would
Always your way
You want it all, I did everything I could
Always your way
I'm talking to the walls
I guess it seems that all the wait is gone
But everything is numb
And in my broken jar
All the remains are watered down
And I'm starting to drown
I wish I could, sometimes I wish I would
Always your way
You want it all, I did everything I could
Always your way
I wish I could, sometimes I wish I would
Always your way
You want it all, I did everything I could
Always your way
Always your way
Always your way
Always your way
Always
03 The Gentle Art of Choking (03:30)
Don't look at me that way
I know what you're gonna say
It's on your face
The scars went up in flames
While we waited for the rain
That never came
They tried to follow you
Yeah, I always wanted to
Through black and blue
But how can I explain
When you're taking all the blame
Until the end
They've left you out on your own
And they've broken all of your bones
And I'm turning
And I'm walking away
Don't look at me that way
I heard what you had to say
It's not your place
The feelings are replaced
And the words have all decayed
And it's another day
And it's another day
And it's another day
They've left you out on your own
And they've broken all of your bones
And they're turning
And they're walking away
And they're turning
And they're walking away
05 Cemented Shoes (03:02)
Big mouth strikes again at last
When I thought that all was ended
Gratitude for your attitude
But I'm falling at your feet
And I'm crawling at your feet
Conscience is my greatest curse
The fridge is full of just desserts
Fall into all your avenues
And I'm falling at your feet
And I'm crawling at your feet
Big mouth strikes again at last
When I thought that all was at my back
And I'm falling at your feet
And I'm crawling at your feet
And I'm falling on my knees
And I'm crawling on my knees
Have my gratitude for your attitude
And I'm falling at your feet
And I'm crawling at your feet
And I'm falling on my knees
And I'm crawling on my knees
06 Grounded (02:31)
Listen to the man
He wants to be your friend
Listen to them all
The voices in your head
And I don't think I know
What everyone else knows
But I don't seem to care
The situation's grounded
Some of us and everyone is grounded
It's too late to go
Listen to the man
His words were never read
Listen to them all
The voices in your head
And I don't think I know
What everyone else knows
But I don't seem to care
The situation's grounded
Some of us and everyone is grounded
It's too late to go
Grounded
Some of us and everyone is grounded
It's too late to go
08 Infantile (03:48)
Half the girl I used to be
She's still dresing up inside of me
Not everything is so pink and blue
But that's the way it seems to you
Lying in a darkened room
Trying to re-write the rules
I'm falling in, I'm falling out
I guess that's what it's all about
If only all the world could see
But they're not like you or me
But I don't mind
I don't mind
I know today that you will see
Your equations splitting at the seams
The pavement cracks to fuck you up
False sympathy to shut you up
Perverted for your right to preach
I'm slipping slowly from your reach
I'm falling in, I'm falling out
I guess that's what you're all about
And if all the worlds a stage
Count me out of this play
But I don't mind
I don't mind
Cos you've been locked inside a day
You're going out of your way
And so am I
So am I
09 Ode to the Red Queen (04:03)
Here we are again
Finding ourselves at the end
Of the wrong stick
I guess it's far too late
I'm building up the barricades
In my head
And I guess you'll learn soon
She said, someday
They're swallowing you whole
You're waiting for them all to choke
On the bones
Another sorry case
The surgeons trying to save his face
From the clones
And I guess you learn soon
She said
And I guess you learn soon
And I'm trying hard to
Understand your ways
And I guess you learn soon
She said, someday
11 Windows & Walls (03:27)
I'm starting to crave a Kalashnikov
I'm spending my pennies at your thoughts
I'm hearing them all
Through windows and walls
They're pulling the feathers under my wings
They're feeding my anti-anxiety pills
They're making me ill
All of the pills
Are making me ill
Twist me like your smile
So I can hide in here
Safe for a while
And oh, what can you say
The colour photographs are fading away
Oh, what can you do
They've got the lenses on
And staring through you
13 Losing Touch (03:03)
It's your finest day
And I'm gonna do everything to hurt you, my love
I'm running out of power
It's only you now and your holy water, water
I'm losing touch
Guess you lost your flower
Funny how you couldn't find another, another
Glad that it's all over
Cos I'm really sick of falling over, over
I'm losing touch
Last chance for the modern man
Stay silent if you can, but everything's okay
And I knew it'd come to this
When everything had ended, but everything's okay
And everything's okay
But everything's okay
14 Pieces (04:24)
Give me a sign
Am I wasting your time?
I wanted you to run out
I wanted you to run
This time
Give me a heart
Cos I'm falling apart
I'm turning back the hands now
I'm turning back the hands
I'm coming back with all the pieces
But I'm coming back with all the pieces
All the pieces
All the pieces
Lend me your eyes
Cos I'm losing my sight
From all the crooked faces
From all the twisted fate
I'm coming back with all the pieces
But I'm coming back with all the pieces
All the pieces
All the pieces
And I'm turning away...
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