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Rating:
Three Imaginary Boys: a stunning debut from the Cure, year seventy-nine.
Three imaginary English boys still immersed in the sound between new-wave and late punk. A lot of English pop and a few dark hints. But damn, a terrifying debut, brilliant, fresh, we wish there were more like this (Massive Attack, Baustelle, Area and a few others).
Twelve tracks (and an unlisted thirteenth that’s instrumental only) for thirty-five minutes of music, urgency and frenzy but with style, some irony, and a dandy as a singer. A poetic dandy, sad, exaggerated, magical.
10.15 Saturday Night: a kickoff with a bang that escalates further, with a voice and lyrics so beautifully piercing, damn, so sharp. A power-pop stroke of genius followed by Accuracy, with a dark and inviting bass, a loose vocal, then Grinding Halt, perfect new-wave rhythm guitar and Robert Smith singing like a punk. Then two absolute gems: Another Day slow, almost dark, narcotic, liquid, amnesic, and Object the most punk and impetuous track on the record. The brief Subway Song is a seductive night song accompanied by jazz bass. Perhaps the least impressive track on the album is the cover of Hendrix's Foxy Lady with its tribal rock'n'roll.
Another excellent power-pop intuition is Meathook while the subsequent So What is a masterpiece bordering on noise with a mixture of spoken word, malice, and disenchantment. The choruses of Fire In Cairo and It's Not You are exceptional, effective distillations of rebellious pop. The title track, the last three minutes that close the album, is magnificent.
What a spectacular debut full of fireworks and how much spleen is scattered among these tracks...
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
02 Accuracy (02:18)
We sit in the same room
Side by side
I give you the wrong lines
Feed you
Look into my eyes
We both smile
I could kill you
Without trying
That's accuracy
Practice all day for accuracy
Mirror mirror on the wall...
03 Grinding Halt (02:49)
No light
No people
No speak
No people
No cars
No people
No food
No people
Stopped
Short
Grinding halt
Everything's coming to a grinding halt
No sound
No people
No clocks
No people
No fine
No people
No me
No people
Stopped
Short
Grinding halt
Everything's coming to a grinding halt
Slow down
Slow down
No people
Slow down
Everything's coming to a...
05 Object (03:03)
You know you turn me on
Eyes so wide and legs so long
But don't try to talk to me
I won't listen to your lies
You're just an object in my eyes
Sophisticated smile
You seduce in such fine style
But don't try to fool me
Because I can see through your disguise
You're just an object in my eyes
But I don't mind
I just don't care
I've got no objection
To you touching me...
Object object object object...
You know just what to do
Lick your lips
And I want you
But don't try to hold me
Because I don't want any ties
You're just an object in my eyes
But I don't mind
I just don't care
I've got no objections
To you touching me...
You're just an object
Object object object
You're just an object
06 Subway Song (02:01)
Midnight in the subway
She's on her way home
She tries hard not to run
But she feels she's not alone
Echoes of footsteps
Follow close behind
But she dare not turn around...
Turn around...
07 Foxy Lady (02:29)
You know you're a cute little heart-breaker
You know you're a sweet little love-maker
I want to take you home
I won't do you no harm
You've got to be all mine
All mine
I see you come down on the scene, Foxy
You make me want to get up and scream, Foxy
I've made up my mind
I'm tired of wasting all my precious time
You've got to be all mine
All mine
08 Meathook (02:18)
I went into the butchers
I said wanted wanted wanted some...
Meat
Pass me some of that steak over there
It looks so...
Sweet
I lost my heart to a meathook!
That butcher man was some...
Lady
He really stole my heart
He hung me up on his meathook
A real piece of...
Slaughterhouse art
I lost my heart to a meathook!
There's a meathook in my heart
Tearing me all apart
Ripping out my insides
But I just can't get away
I can't leave my
Meathook
10 Fire in Cairo (03:23)
Slowly fading blue
The eastern hollows catch
The dying sun
Night time follows
Silent and black
Mirror pool mirrors
The lonely place
Where I meet you
See your head
In the fading light
And through the dark
Your eyes shine bright
And burn like fire
Burn like fire in Cairo
Burn like fire
Burn like fire in Cairo
Shifting crimson veil
Silken hips slide
Under my hand
Swollen lips whisper my name
And I yearn
You take me in your arms
And start to burn
F.I.R.E.I.N.C.A.I.R.O
Then the heat disappears
And the mirage
Fades away...
F.I.R.E.I.N.C.A.I.R.O
Burn like a fire in Cairo
Burn like a fire
Blaze like a fire in Cairo
Blaze like a fire
Flare with a wonderful light
Like a fire in Cairo
Burn like fire
Burn like
Fire in Cairo
11 It's Not You (02:49)
You wear your smile
Like it was going out of fashion
Dress to inflame
But douse any ideas of passion
You carry your love in a trinket
Hanging round your throat
Always inviting
Always exciting
But I must not take off my coat
Well I'm tired of hanging around
I want someone new
I'm not sure who I've got in mind
But I know
It's not you
You ask me questions
That I never wanted to hear
I am the only one
Just until you finish this year
I would murder you
If I had an alibi
Here in my hand
But you just laugh
Beause you don't understand
That I'm tired of hanging around
I want somebody new
I'm not sure
Who I've got in mind
But I know that it's not you
It's not you
It's not you
It's not you
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By luludia
"Listening to it is waking up and feeling young, just enough time to give a kiss to the mom who made you coffee and then off you go…"
"On side one, or 'Three imaginary boys,' no Nick Drake, no David Bowie… just top (very top) level pop rock… dreamy, nervous, melancholic, and happy…"
