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Rating: It's hard to be the best among the second tiers in the early '90s grunge-crossover jungle. The prime movers and big names firmly held the scepter, having the strut and charisma to remain center stage. Meanwhile, clones and craftsmen churned out by the majors advanced relentlessly, ready to fulfill the consumption driven by MTV. That's why excellent bands like Paw fell into oblivion.
Skilled and captivating in generating guitar storms of roaring impressionist power, but lacking the intensity that would soon bring luck to contemporaries like Tool and God Machine. Meanwhile, their sumptuous melodic vein, interwoven with strong strands of classic American rock, which emerged here and there, wasn't enough to rival with Blind Melon and Stone Temple Pilots and break through the wall of a mainstream that was becoming increasingly homogeneous. So, while Tool, with the success of "Undertow," could slowly prepare the leap in quality with the masterpiece "Aenima," the partial commercial flop of "Dragline" pushed Paw to seek some shortcuts with the subsequent "Death to traitors," resembling a tough version of Soul Asylum but ultimately digging their own grave.
Formed in Kansas by singer Mark Hennessy and guitarist Grant Fitch at the beginning of the decade, they got noticed with a demo produced by "Mister Nevermind" Butch Vig, and were even celebrated by Newsweek as the "new Nirvana", partly due to the desperate lyricism permeating their early compositions. The wheel didn't turn in their favor, but re-listened today, "Dragline" remains an album capable of competing on equal terms with many of the heavyweights released in that happy 1993. Its mixture is given by a tight assault borrowed from Nirvana's "Bleach", capable of sliding down the slopes of a lush roots rock not unlike Pearl Jam's "Vs", all interspersed with sculptural arpeggios à la Jane's Addiction. Indeed, Farrell and Navarro's band is the guiding light, with the same taste for crafting complex and elaborate compositions like "Couldn't Know", "Pansy", or "Veronica", with harmonic passages generating dizzying strumming, tribal effervescence and lively lysergic splashes. Other classics abound, starting with the anthemic "Gasoline", "The Bridge", "One More Bottle", and "Jessie", underpinned by an ever-present pulsing bass and fueled by the charismatic and possessed vocalist's tales of pure teenage angst. And what about the sinuous "Lolita", introduced by a malevolent Pixies-like bass line, perfectly combining the visionary nature of sixties rock with the execution power of grunge? A worthy conclusion to a splendid work is the apocalyptic "Hard Pig", a torrid and squared blues boogie that amplifies into an atmosphere of leaden surrealism.
Paw now bivouac who knows where between Jack Daniel's and pool games, lost in that rural and hallucinatory America they described within these grooves. Paraphrasing a slogan of the Furiosi (Cagliari ultras) for Valery Melis (a soldier and fan who became ill in Kosovo due to depleted uranium and then died) that David Suazo showed the cameras after scoring one of his 102 goals in the rossoblù shirt: many have forgotten them, we will not forget them.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Gasoline (04:48)
Change the pain
Of what you feel
You keep it inside
You made it real
Twenty times to get it
Twenty times to give
You kept it inside, long enough
Enough to let it live
I feel no shame
For what I do
Mistakes the same
The hate rings true
Never had no heaven
Had too much of hell
I never cared what I did
It's probably just as well
I've heard it all before
I know nothin's gonna change
I've heard it all before
I know nothin's gonna change
I've heard it again and again
I know nothin's gonna change
Aw, change the way I feel
Change the pain
Of what you feel
You keep it inside
You made it real
Twenty times to get it
Twenty times to give
You kept it inside long enough
Enough to let it grow
I've heard it all before
I know nothin's gonna change
I've heard it all before
I know nothin's gonna change
I've heard it again and again
I know nothin's gonna change
Aw, change the way I feel
You swing up to me acting like everything's jake between us.
It starts off easy enough,
but you don't get more than one chance,
before I don't know you anymore.
It's easy for me.
and I don't miss you that much.
But I can tell by the hurt in your eyes.
It's only gonna take a little push,
to make all the hurt blossom up inside of you.
Yeah, I'm caught in my own trap
I'm caught in my own trap
Caught in my own trap again
I feel no pain
I feel no shame
You'll hurt yourself
When you turn on me
Yeah, I've heard it all before
I know nothin's gonna change
Hey, your mom and dad
Can't teach you like I can
I'm goin' back and forth
Back and forth again
And I'm wrong enough
To say how right I am
And nothin' will take away your pain
And nothin' will take away your shame
And nothin' is ever gonna change
And nothin' will change the way I feel
03 Jessie (03:15)
Hurt the dog, grab the dog, grab the dog
Scratch my ear, scratch my ear, scratch my head
Please play with me, play with me, play with me
Oh but Jessie
It's cold outside, and I'm not coming home
I don't know where I'll be, oh when the morning comes
and Jessie you're a good dog, please don't follow me
Just go on home
I ran away, dog tagged along, I lost the dog
Dog tagged along, I lost the dog, it broke my heart
Please stay with me, and play with me, stay with me
Oh but Jessie
It's cold outside, and I'm not coming home
I don't know where I'll be, oh when the morning comes
and Jessie you're a good dog, please don't follow me
Just go on home
Just go on home
Jessie, don't follow me
Jessie, go on home
Jessie you're a good dog, such a good dog (5x)
04 The Bridge (03:34)
You cross the tracks
Laid your head in my lap
Put your mouth on me
For the second time
Pull your, dress up slow
It's too dark to see good, and really
Oh, was it worth the price?
Yeah, and do you remember
Aw, how you lied to me?
Yeah, and have you forgotten
Yeah, how I listened?
And do you remember
How you lied to me?
Have you forgotten
How I listened?
Too dumb to see
That you've been lying
Too blind to feel
I can find
What you're hiding
Dog-bite, angry on the inside
Your doing everything you can
To end this ride
And do you remember
How you lied to me?
Have you forgotten
Yeah, how I listened?
And do you remember
Where you lied to me
Underneath the bridge?
Did you listen?
No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
And do you remember
How you lied to me?
Have you forgotten
Yeah, how I listened?
And do you remember
Aw, where you lied to me
Underneath the bridge?
Did you listen?
No!
So kiss me again
Oh, before you lie to me
Ah, Down by the bridge
Yeah, down by the bridge
Yeah, down by the bridge
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