The Chameleons
What Does Anything Mean? Basically

THE REVIEW

The tragic death of Ian Curtis and the subsequent dissolution of Joy Division sowed the seeds for the birth of a myriad of bands that have emerged over the years up to the present day, elevating the angelic English frontman and the two albums of his creation to the status of an icon as an indispensable cult for all lovers of post-punk, wave, and derivative sounds.

The great void left was progressively filled by bands born after Ian's departure and by those contemporary groups that, however, already paid tribute in influence to the Manchester band (I am thinking, in particular, of Robertino Smith's The Cure, who, by sometimes extreme expressions of the mix of anger and dark despair of the Joy Division singer, perhaps ended up contributing to some stereotypes that have always accompanied dark music, and The Sound's singer Adrian Borland, who shares the same tragic fate as Curtis).

Among these, the Chameleons, also from Manchester, led by singer and bassist Mike Burgess, deserve absolute attention.

Lovers of various Interpol, Editors, White Rose Movement, Franz Ferdinand, and all that current defined by some critics as neowave, listening to the first two albums of the Chameleons, couldn't help but shout plagiarism in some tracks. The strong influence is especially felt in The Back Room by the Editors, of which some songs seem nothing but a revisited version of "In Shreds", a song characterized by a vibrant rockwave style accompanied by Mike's full-bodied voice.

"What Does Anything Mean? Basically" suffers less from the dark influences compared to the previous "Script of the Bridge," in favor of a certain lighter pop-rock that, according to some critics, would even have influenced a certain brit-pop. Anyway, we are faced with an excellent album, with more varied facets compared to the debut record.

Alongside the classic dark/pop wave tracks in the style of The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Sound, or the early U2, like the opener "Home Is Where the Heart Is", the dreamy and fascinating melody of "Intrigue In Tangiers", the ethereal progress of "One Flesh", or the energetic rock of "Return Of The Roughnecks" and the aforementioned "In Shreds", we find the sixties-influenced pop of "Looking Inwardly", the wonderful "Nostalgia" where Brugess's singing recalls the best times of Bowie, the relaxed and delicate "beaches" of "On the Beach", the sweet and emotional pop ballad of "P.S. Goodbye", the melodic and intense rock of "Perfume Garden".

Particular attention also deserves the wonderful cover inspired by the works of that surrealist genius René Magritte.

Timeless and spaceless works, a bit like the music of the Chameleons.