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Rating: It is not easy to find the right and rewarding words to describe Wiretap Scars, the debut album by Sparta. I fear I won't find terms that are worthy enough to do justice to an emotion I hadn't felt in years, precisely since the first album by Queens Of The Stone Age. But perhaps that's how it should be, perhaps they themselves with this masterpiece wanted to definitively close with the past (of ATDI) and at the same time surprise all the experts and critics in the field who had long considered rock dead. The most suffering nostalgics had been waiting for it for years, and now it has finally arrived! I don't just consider it the rock album of the year, to be clear, Sparta goes much further, reaching those privileged levels that make it timeless and which have been dominated by only a few before them. 12 unprecedented tracks, simply fantastic, capable of conveying on first listen all the energy and exclusivity of the best indie rock. Jim Ward's voice is imposing, a bittersweet thrill, a sort of Sting in a hard version. He is the reference point in this band and highlights it in his own way in all the pieces, despite the melodic bases being equally refined, to the point of convincing me every time to accompany them from start to finish with the guitar: my way of sharing my emotions with them and, in the end, also of expressing my gratitude more than I can with these lines. The guitars are skilled at reviving the now lost and exhausted joy for soft-hard changes, always harmonic and above all exciting. Few but good electronic accompaniments serve as a background to drums that are less rebellious and better integrated into the general sounds compared to ATDI. Now that I think about it, perhaps the right words I was missing are only theirs "Wake up! Can you hear me?" from "Cut Your Ribbons", the first track of the album. I don't want to and can't reveal anything else, just a piece of advice: if you are like me and have been searching for many years for a new super rock band like Nirvana, The Smashing Pumpkins, U2, Radiohead, or Fugazi, this is the CD for you! With this work, Sparta will leave a great mark. djd P.S.: In November, they will be on tour in England along with the Hundred Reasons.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Cut Your Ribbon (03:04)
Wake up,
Can you hear me?
Your so clever, did you find me?
In the back room?
In your closet?
In your suitcase?
There's no running,
I will find you.
Like a glacier cuts the seabed,
Leaving canyons,
In your cheekbones.
Passing through you.
In the shadows,
Scenes undo you.
Cut your ribbon.
As it follows you.
Everything, everything,
How can you sleep at night?
As it falls apart.
Anything, anything
How can you sleep at night?
Face it, can you hear it?
Violation, you'll remember,
It's all harmless,
Incidental, disengaging,
These thoughts break you.
Conscious, vicious,
It has found you,
Monovision, synapse fails you,
Frequent syndrome,
Stings and burns through,
Monovision, then dilutes you.
Can you escape these motives?(3x)
Refrain
02 Air (03:57)
Apathy falls in the ocean
At least we went down fighting
At the bottom of the ocean
The scenery can fail calm
Up till now been riding fine, Yeah
but the curving walls leave me behind, Yeah
Do you remember the days?
Did you forget those days?
What would the oddsmaker say?
Would the oddsmaker say?
We're drinking on jet streams
Through to
Ideas won't happen
Laid out on benches
Through to
Sink for this reason
If you see through, these motives
You'll please report your progress
To the captain, our captain
So he can mark the atlas
Never considered this a prize , yeah
But the curving walls leave me behind, yeah
We're drinking on jet streams
Through to
Ideas won't happen
Laid out on benches
Through to
Sink for this reason
03 Mye (03:39)
I'll qualify this circumstance
broadcast, renew this chance
pin hope on this promise
graduate to a settled score
projects through mansion doors
stand up, dust yourself off
it's troubled now by swelling tide
beached hope and sandstone lies
you're dazed in the moment
This time I'll get it right
you can't defend it, it's predetermined
You know I'll sit at the bottom space
trace lines in the vacant face
it's all about these changes
small flat in a smaller town
steal hope to pass around
you're caught in the memory
These shores aren't out of reach.
04 Collapse (04:16)
The host of the show comes down
to collapse on the ground
and the crime scene revisits me
this body shut down in Bordeaux
and the shores of gold coast on the balcony
I search for sleep
the future has fallen short
when the sun sets north
and the clouds fall from the mirrored walls
Words speak and choose
make sense and lose
capsize the tall tale, but always fail
words speak and choose, make sense and lose
forfeit the tall tale, I always will
The host had his mouth sewn shut
all in the name of trust
when the blood goes thin, he's given in
you can spare us the formal toast
the drunken anecdotes
from this day on... goes on and on...
You know when he falls apart
he listens in the dark to records turn
I'll never learn
To set it down
you'll set it down
you'll set it down
05 Sans Cosm (03:59)
Arms open but I've just broken in
through a crack in a long division
can I make a decision without confusion?
seemed something but became nothing at all
what happened to the old and stable?
when the powers that be fail
and heads will roll
someday low notes fade away and go true and stale
Somewhere words don't crater in at all
Currents turn and green lights on my right
These miles hold an infinite time
Long enough to remember and regret precursors
Tide turning foundations shaking away
It's a matter of time and distance
And tested opinions that force a change
do you owe this? I am what you thought you were
can you pay it? what you've indebted
you're back and forth, you're the lottery.
06 Light Burns Clear (04:24)
Looking back with perfect symmetry
mistakes were you, mistakes were me
photos fall through the glass
paint it black to hide your name
static screams deaf the masses
but what do you got to say?
Fan the flames to the landslide
Gotta show me the Stars
we play this disaster
fanfare, fanfare, liar
Concrete eyes and flash bang imagery
you're bored with home, you're bored with me
rings were thrown out the window
rolled down empty streets
walls will talk for the widow
but what does she have to say?
Edges dulled at the end of the day.
07 Cataract (05:11)
Locked up in the distance
in the falter above us
as the contrails pass you spoke your mind
old photos distort you
and you're frowning a smile
as the misery makes us blind
stand down, fall apart and the trouble starts
yeah the trouble starts over again
in the scenes of this casting
where a tragedy follows
as the contrails pass this vacant sky
Disappear, Orlean
away from tarnished golden arsenals
you're laying down again
disappear, Orlean
because your swansong fell on fallen heads
you're laying down again
time goes nowhere
08 Red Alibi (03:42)
In the back of my mind a voice speaks,
spells out the master plan,
now I know.
She swings with the ease of a hammer,
from the truth down through the past,
and I know
What's right, went wrong
from when it started,
to this the finish.
I'll try to find,
a place in your new life...
To set the fire,
and cover your tracks.
Time will tell, the past laughs last.
Syllables will try and judge you, will pierce the anecdote
now I know.
your plea is a case of reason
this deletes your alibi
and I know.
once tried, left wrong.
from where it started, to here the finish
I'll try to find,
a place in your new life
The traps have been set, and this will change everything
To set the fire,
and cover your tracks.
Time will tell, the past laughs last.
09 RX Coup (03:14)
At the bottom you set it down
from the top I counted you out
cascading, the end draws near
these rail lines, drown in fear
in the dark days, hunger's free
illumination, end with greed
darg your feet, and strung along
fight back, until you're gone
chorus:
This tunnel vision breaks my mind
dark days leave this world behind
humiliation takes its toll
proud hope stands tall
11 Echodyne Harmonic (03:57)
They say it takes a ring of gold
to fix the outer shell
so hold on until they return
enslave the native tongue
to mine their freedom out
so hold on and don't give in
chorus:
Our world is only what we're told
how do we know?
Life spans 1000 years have gone
but just a minute above
so hold on until they return
sheltered thoughts and fears
if they claim what's theirs
so hold on and don't give in
Fading out, now we're fading out.
12 Assemble the Empire (03:02)
Don't make this fake
last second of life
faux obsolete
assemble the empire
Following fell on hard times
this one won't count
we won't count it all
slow down
these factions cast a failure of crowns
benevolence forces itself
fallen from state
into the hands of the law
slow down
these factions cast a failure on crowns
Slow down.
13 Vacant Skies (03:55)
Crumbling around the freefall
This missing air will forever make
Your nerves crawl
Crumbling
We will assume the worst
Encapsulation, fists clenched and falling
Mistakes make it easy
Harmonic turbulence shakes
Ties red booths to magazines
Stand and clear
Harmonic
We will assume the worst
Encapsulation, fists clenched and falling
Mistakes make it easy
Encapsulation, eyes dry and vacant
Mistakes make it easy
Say no more
Say no more
Say, say, no more
Encapsulation, fists clenched and falling
Mistakes make it easy
Encapsulation, eyes dry and vacant
Mistakes make it easy
We recall, it's all meaningless
Green eyes blur, give in easier
and make you blind
We recall, we recall
Simplicity
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