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Rating: 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.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
02 Perfume Garden (04:37)
You can shake your hips,you can seal your lips, i can't make that trip
And all lifes fears could invade my ears, i can handle it
I can call on a friend and remember the faces we wore at school
Making the madness and solitary sadness, a friendly fool
I thought of stories they told us long ago
Of how the world was a perfume garden
I haven't yet learned to tame the creature there
And that at least i think is something good
All across the town and across the street, you could feel the heat
Let me tell you friend,they could hardly wait to mark your sheet
It was maximum joy for the men they employed, to hold you down
Well i hope now you know that this isn't the bliss that you thought you'd found
Endless emtpiness, endless ringing bells
I couldn't show you but i'd hoped to one day
A pretty promise to teach the tender child
To welcome madness every Monday
Beck beck beck and call
Didn't seem to matter at all
Beck beck beck and call
Told us how to conquer it all
Beck beck beck and call
Didn't seem to matter at all
Beck beck beck and call
Told us how to conquer it all
You can shake your hips,you can seal your lips, i can't make that trip
And all lifes fears could invade my ears, i can handle it
I can call on a friend, i can laugh with a friend that i know from school
Making the madness and solitary sadness, a friendly fool
Beck beck beck and call
They taught us how to conquer it all
Beck beck beck and call
These children have nothing at all
Listening hard for the voice of the child
I thought i heard an alarm bell ringing
Pulled from my sleep by invisible hands
The gentle sound of a lady singing
03 Intrigue in Tangiers (05:17)
Oh when it's summer and the skies are glass
Oh when it's summer and the skies are glass
I just have to make the evenings last they're always flying past
Oh when it's raining and the skies are black
Oh when it's raining and the skies are black
I just have to hear the thunder roll and hear the lightning crack
With fading powers,we sit for hours by a television screen
With funny cigarettes and talk for hours of the places that we've seen
Oh brother can you hear my voice?
Oh brother can you hear my voice?
Every second that you cling to life you have to feel alive
Well it's an easy thing to sell your skin
It's an easy thing to sell your skin
With the devil banging on the door , you always let him in.
With fading powers, we dream of hours that'll never come again
Old defenders are themselves defenceless when the mad attack the sane
What can you do, when you see no future in front of you?
Food for the few
So many it seems, stand in front of you
I see my face reflected there in a sweating brow.
You hate what you see, but what can be done when there's no way out
No way out
Now brother can you hear my voice
Brother can you hear my voice
Every second that you cling to life you have to feel alive
And now it's summer and the skies are glass
When it's summer and the skies are glass
I just have to make the evenings last, they're always flashing past
So there we cower
We sit for hours by a television screen
With funny cigarettes and talk for hours of the places that we've seen
But when you sleep
But when you sleep
Where do you go?
Where do you go?
But when you sleep
But when you sleep
Where do you go?
Where do you go?
I don't know
I don't know
06 On the Beach (04:11)
The Autumn leaves were falling
Hearing nature talking
I thought I heard her calling
Hush now don't you cry
Figure in the sky
Can't stop myself from shaking
My mind at last is waking
Eight minds embracing
Figures in the sky
Hadn't time to analyse
What I saw before my eyes
But nothing would surprise me
Here on our beach
Far away from you all
I thought I heard her calling
Unsure of what we're facing
The precious time we're wasting
I'll always be embracing
Figures in the sky
07 Looking Inwardly (04:29)
I delve into myself,ceaselessly
Oh but i rarely see,what i want to see
Embracing the future,forgetting the past
Loves,loss and misfortune
The chaos and the crass
Crass
I'm wary of you, but you're oblivious to me
I'm chained to your ego
But there isn't a key
I play with emotions but never my own
Don't you recognise me?
Try looking inwardly
Ah but you won't see me
Such a strange fascination as i wallow in waste
That such a trivial victory can put a smile on your face
Using me as the scapegoat, for what you want to beleive
So i'll just bow out politely
And tip my cap as i leave
Ah comme ci,comme ca, comme ci
My eyes are wide open,yours are closed
It's time you realised i'm a part of you
Look inwardly,don't bleed for me
Look to yourself
08 One Flesh (04:29)
With the sun in your eyes
Always mistaking
The truth from the lies
In the love that you're making
Don't pretend it isn't so
With the sun in your eyes
It always reveals
A voluntary bondage
That always appeals
It's how you make the garden grow
But why this weakness
No-one knows
Our conscience cries his sorrow
While we sleep
But once the morning's dawned
Out the back-door
Silently he creeps
With the sun in your eyes
Always reminding
A sense of excitement
You've no hope of finding
With the chains that bind your feet
Belonging or longing
For a few empty hours
In a strangers bed
To chase away
A fear that's in your head
And why this weakness
No-one knows
The vacant faceless voices
On the phone
Bring words that offer no
Consolation when you're all alone
With the sun in your eyes
Beaten on the brow of history
A union forged in slavery
In all that's hope and decency
A hope for you and a hope for me
For every woman child and man
To those who'll chain you if they can
The babe you're bouncing on your knee
Needs your help now can't you see
09 Home Is Where the Heart Is (04:54)
So here we are waking
Savages shaking
The road that we're taking
We've walked before
And if these times
Should seal our fate
You won't see me
At Heavens gate
Danger is lurking
Evil is working
Yet here we are hiding
Behind our doors
Come out come out
It's time to grow
Enjoy the ride
One more time before you go
According to Hoyle
All cards on the table
What else can you do
When life is unstable
The night's growing colder
The enemy bolder
But as you grow older
You cease to care
But if we run
Or try to hide
And turn our faces
We'll have no hopes
To keep alive
According to Hoyle
All cards on the table
Reactions cool
The world is unstable
According to Hoyle
All cards on the table
What can you do
When life is unstable
So here we are waking
Savages shaking
Here we are hiding
Danger is lurking
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