The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band
Smoke Dreams

LA RECENSIONE

The weather was fine in Melbourne in the era when at airport customs they wouldn't send you back home for a bag of peanuts (or a little well-hidden smoke), and from this, it can be deduced that certain insanity could also emigrate even among the steppes and kangaroos.

The story begins with this pair of unlucky spouses, the bony and thrifty Mr. and Mrs. Drysdale who, over a frugal evening meal, a simple hot dog of American origin, discuss this and that. Their canary in the cage does not seem to agree. Poor Mr. Drysdale does not have much left and after this miserable dinner, he reclines in the living room armchair, a bit of smoke, and it takes little for the journey to begin in search of easy sex at the Nagasaki subway among traveling salesmen chewing tobacco. In the next room, the wife busy ironing certainly does not need additives to daydream of some good sexual exercise, it has been at least three years since her husband has not even touched her with a finger.

Mr. Drysdale, however, is a great worker, he does not disdain smoking any kind of substance even during those hours that ennoble a man, the important thing for him is to smoke, even if it's "hay," and his member continues to throb even in front of the ugliest of his colleagues. And here comes the day of truth for this repressed bourgeois; the wife caught red-handed, the marriage bed, their love nest of good old times, ravaged by a being who is savagely possessing "his" very bony woman. In the end, scandal and shame matter more than the stag's antlers. This was just what was needed after the hot dog; he pulls out the notebook from his pocket and writes the rough draft of a letter; meanwhile, the canary is stolen by a Mrs. Sofia, who she is remains unknown. The letter in hindsight is rather sad and desolate; what can you do, Drysdale... your lady has found what she was looking for easily it seems, especially without the need for all that smoke you keep consuming. Our hero put on his slippers, sat in the armchair with a terrifying wheeze, and continued traveling with his mind; poor Mr. Drysdale is left with nothing but this.

All this from Australia with fury, recounted by the Captain Matchbox, a talented and crazy band of lunatics strolling between bluegrass, folk, country, old-time music, blues, and various shenanigans. Their work is a jumble of texts and songs revealing a surprising skill; harmonica, kazoo, banjo, mandolin, violin, all played in a frenzied manner. Inclined to reject profit, although TV and radio appearances in their homeland were continuous, the large company remained the classic "village" band, rehearsing and having home sessions just for personal pleasure.

They were especially attentive to social analysis, to the contradictions of the civilization of progress, evolving styles directly taken from the past and uncompromisingly poured into a revelry that attracts and entertains. Most of their music thus comes from a dated repertoire, decades preceding the formation of Captain Matchbox, tending only partially to recreate the original atmosphere of tracks like "Sophisticated Mama", "Hotsy Totsy", "I Got Ant's in my Pants", etc. - Using totally acoustic instrumentation they created their personalized mood with exquisite rearrangement work, introducing texts and gags that made them briefly appreciated not only overseas but also in England and Germany.

The album Smoke Dreams, also printed for the American market in 1973, was ranked by Billboard among the best albums of the year; unfortunately, the band led by brothers Jim and Mick Conway had to disband precisely at the peak of critical and public success. During a promotional tour in 1979, the band's truck caused a tragic road accident and the coffers of the Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band were literally drained by insurance claims. Perhaps even this unpleasant event, like for poor Mr. Drysdale, happened due to an excessive use of opiates... could be, but if you happen to find yourself in any Australian city do not dare to criticize the Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band, even today decades later it remains an undisputed national icon.