[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Staked tospringloaded guitar fills and snapping rhythms, on the thirdverse, Dulli staggers in like a displaced drunk.He’s loaded,looking for trouble, and will settle for whatever’s available.Open the liquor cabinet and let the spirits flow.Just don’tdelay.Indecision triggers reflection and contemplation, andthat has forced him to reconsider everything.What was oncefamiliar—specifically, the qualities and words associated withbeing a gentleman—are almost imperceptible.Lies havestripped away meaning and identity.Dulli’s character is nowso far gone he’s unknown to even himself.“Be Sweet”A clipped, finger-picked blues riff and jazzy beat give way toone of the most self-loathing introductions in rock history:“Ladies, let me tell you about myself / I got a dick for a brain/ And my brain is gonna sell my ass to you,” Dulli sings, withthe exaggerated breathiness of a lounge crooner.McCollum’shypnotic phrasing borders on that of a rumba.Ba-bahm,ba-bahm.Bahm-ba, bahm-ba.The timing parallels thetick-tock of an antique wristwatch.Taking swipes at himself,95Dulli’s character is as certain of his faults as he is his desire to ditch commitment and stick to fucking.The frank disclosuregives McCollum authority to break the metered pattern, allowacidic distortion to well up, and spit it all back out withcaustic intent.It burns.As does Dulli, who confesses shame for his actions.The errorof his ways netted freedom, but at what cost? The prom-dancewaltz of hell-bound sinners continues.Ba-bahm, ba-bahm.Bahm-ba, bahm-ba.No sympathy.Ba-bahm, ba-bahm.Bahm-ba, bahm-ba.Loneliness.Another swell of feedbackarises, but this time, rather than fling acid into bare eyes,McCollum underlines the alienation with a mournfulSouthern slide.It’s melancholy’s first appearance onGentlemen.Dulli’s wracked mental condition is such that it can no longer be concealed with He-Man boasts: “On mygrave / Am I OK? / I’m sure / I’m not.” A decay of clashingguitars and wiry reverb let the revelation sink in.On the third verse, Dulli’s character is ready to acceptliability.The admission is at once sincere and pompous.Yes,his partner gave him more love.But not enough to fulfill hislibido.And the joke’s on you, sisters.The reason he’s trolling is because he’s on a quest to understand himself: What kindof person is he? Has he always been this way? To whom doesthe blame fall? If he and his ex both engaged in the samebehavior, are they both wrong?The kiss-off is the punchline.The directive—“And baby, yoube sweet”—is at odds with everything in the song, mostexplicitly, the protagonist.It’s an empty, impossible,contradictory, and ironic sentiment, one that leaves a badaftertaste and plagues the narrator’s self-esteem.While96Dulli’s character could be uttering the line to the general audience referred to at the song’s beginning, he’s more likelyrepeating the phrase to himself.Kris actually said those verywords to the vocalist when they broke up.Echoing in hishead, the idiom is another painful reminder of his character.The band’s soulfully sleazy exit—McCollum’s high-pitchedslide notes, Curley’s nimble bass maneuvers, Earle’s punchyrhythmic combinations—reflects a dynamic ushered in onUptown Avondale and fully realized on Gentlemen.Heightened levels of instrumental complexity, tempo shifts,moody charisma, and lyrical awareness—as well as theemergenceandexaminationofguilt,buriedonCongregation—are evident just three songs into the album.“Debonair”Funky chords, skin-smacking gospel-choir handclaps, and acrawling, sensuous bass line: the black-sounding andMotown-influenced “Debonair” begins like a lost “SoulTrain” track—albeit one with aluminum-tinted punkovertones.During the verses, a scuffed R&B rhythminterlocks with Curley’s stairstepping grooves.The songencourages dancing, and even the rolling bridge, which risesto match Dulli’s anger, remains loose, game for a shakedown [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]