The Dream Syndicate
The Days of Wine and Roses

Los Angeles 1982.

That day I don't remember how much I had drunk and as usual, I found myself in Karl's bed. He told me that in the evening he had to go to the studio with the guys to fix some arrangements before the final recordings. I thought: "The Days of Wine and Roses, nice title for an album."

Dusk came and Karl came out of the bathroom with his usual pinhead pupils, he was as beautiful as he was rotten and when he wielded that damn guitar, it seemed like all that rot and acid went directly onto the instrument, the strings, and passed through the cable to come out like an angry scream from the amplifier.

I went with him to the studios carrying the hangover from a binge started in the morning. Steve, Kendra, and Dennis were already there when we arrived and Karl introduced me to the group as an old friend, it all happened very quickly, a quick handshake with the three, and then they seated me with a guy in front of the mixer to watch the work. I smoked cigarettes and drank robust doses of coffee watered down, while the guys beyond the glass talked among themselves, debated and strummed phrases and notes that would soon become an actual record (and what a record). Now, I don't know exactly how long they went on trying and retrying the last song, but when they finished, they all came out of the room very satisfied. It was time to listen.

I had never heard anything like it until then, but I can assure you that the time of flowers and joints had long since passed, and even Punk had now reached its end: in that music, in those lyrics, there was poetry, there was love, there was anger, the social discomfort of a suburban band that would explode in no time emerged.

Many years have passed since then, music critics still say that the Dream Syndicate were the seminal fathers of the paisley underground and with "The Days Of Wine And Roses" American independent Californian music was never the same, drawing from 60's psychedelia and mixing it with early 80's post-punk.

An album to listen to in one breath that 26 years after its release still manages to give strong emotions and leave a mark. Personally, I have not seen those guys since, I also heard that Karl left the band in 1984 after the success of "Medicine Show" and many say that without him, without his acid guitar,  the DS will never be the same again. That may well be true, and it is equally true that everything has a beginning and an end, but those "days of wine and roses," I truly lived them and I can say with all honesty that they were beautiful.

coccagnocca.