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Rating: For humans, fire has determined and represented the evolution from the wild state to the civilized one. Those who manage to possess its original flame hold strength and power. Stealing fire to uncover its essence is an atavistic, mythological, magical desire, a desire that every human being knows they must fulfill sooner or later...
This is inherent in the name of this band, The Fire Theft (the "theft of fire"), a formation born from the dissolution of Sunny Day Real Estate, a cult emo-core band in '90s Seattle, whose excellent DIARY (Sub Pop) is the most known and appreciated work. The Fire Theft are thus the characterful Jeremy Enigk, lyrics and vocals, William Goldsmith on drums, and Nate Mandel (former member of Foo Fighters) on bass.
This self-titled debut work was produced by bassist-producer Brad Wood (already with Tortoise, Smashing Pumpkins, Red Red Meat, Veruca Salt, and Liz Phair) for the combative American label Rykodisc, a label where, among all the treasures it offers, we find a good part of Frank Zappa's catalog.
With The Fire Theft, you have a successful passing of the torch (with a flame like in the Olympic inauguration relay) between the rock generation of the last century (!) and the contemporary one, between harmony and emotion, between reconciliation and power, between joy and torment. As a veteran rock fan who has heard it all, I was pleasantly struck by it.
An ambitious project, this one. Difficult on the first listen. But if you persist, you will be rewarded. The lyrics, sung by Enigk's splendid voice, speaking of unreachable trust and wistful consolation, are supported by superb timeless music that challenges the limits of progressive and ventures into the 1970s psychedelic sinuosity, thanks to an intimate musical writing blended with an orchestral and imposing sound. These are splendid, broad, and innovative aesthetic perspectives, which also move thanks to an incomparable mastery of sound. The Fire Theft project is a tribute, with a slight Radiohead-like taste, to guardian deities like Pink Floyd, Genesis, The Who, but also to smaller forgotten minor deities like Wishbone Ash. Now you are bewildered by all these coordinates, aren't you? Don't worry. The Fire Theft does not scorch; at most, it burns with warm and illuminating flames, among which stand out the enveloping Chain (the album's leading single), Summertime, and Houses, three compositions that alone would be enough to illuminate this disc.
From some interviews, it can be concluded that Enigk and friends will not stop here. On the contrary, according to them, this is just the first chapter of an uphill path towards a broad international panorama. So now is the right moment to discover the potential of this band, now, at this instant where its light is still candid, bright, and burning.
I hope The Fire Theft are aware that playing with fire is risky, and that it could inexorably condemn them to the inquisitorial pyre of musical marketing. Meanwhile, don't let them slip away and enjoy this first blaze of theirs. You won't regret it. Promised.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Uncle Mountain (04:03)
Oh, I can hear you talking
Or doing all the walking
I'm stuck here in the middle
At war with good and evil
I can hear you talking
I'm doing all the walking now
And change ?your?(all)? advice, we'll
Believing you can fly
Rhythm of mind
Don't want to spend my time
Being afraid of dying
I really want to be good
Drowned in a world of pity and sorrow
Then a burst within the light
What was I looking to find?
Run along to the sea
I want love
If love wants me
I want God
If God wants me
Just can't hold on to what I believe
04 Chain (03:43)
Chain
I feel the words falling in a rhythm
I see the wind bearing its decision to never give in
I’m amazed
I hear the words form some kind of silence
When the world falls into violence
We’ll never give in
Chain
I see the world falling in a rhythm
I feel the wind bearing its decision to never give in
I’m afraid
I hear the words form some kind of silence
When the world falls into violence they’ll never give in
Chained in silence
The rhythm of violence
Change all around us
Change in everything you see
I’m amazed
I see the world in a revolution
Within the darkness a solution
We’ll never give in chained in silence
The rhythm of violence
Change all around us
Change in everything you see
12 Carry You (04:22)
Carry you in my breath
I'm going nowhere waiting for the future to begin
Every single step is just another reason to forget who I've become
Carry you with all my regret
How can you change your mind after all the dreams that we once shared
When will I disappear into the day's design
Ever being always seeing never dying
Like a random rain cloud that passes the sky
Just moving on
Carry me in your breath
I'd never needed anything but love
Broken love
Carry me with all your promise
How can I turn away after all the things that we once shared
Never wanted to throw it away pretending that you were never my friend
I can no longer stumble around reaching for a dream that could have been
When we will disappear into the days design
Ever being always seeing never dying
Like a random rain cloud that passes the sky
Just moving on
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