So many great bands appeared in Spain in the last years.. Vetusta Morla, as the turtle in the Neverending Story by Michael Ende, is one of them.. maybe the band that had more exposure to media..
somehow I didn't listened to them properly until just yesterday night while drawing on my desk this song came on a playlist I made of Spanish bands..
this sentence caught my attention.. and then the whole song... then the album..
Wow... Then I found this video, and the sound is just perfect.. you can see they are quite emoted by listening the crowd singing the lyrics... dream come true ?? probably...
There are some bands from Barcelona that I love ..
One of them are The Seihos.
I met them through Guillem Haro, who is a character that anyone can find in any corner of Gracia almost any day .. And most fun of all is that if you sit in for a while and you're lucky you can ask him to recite any Bob Dylan song .. and he will. from the 1962/1976 era, from The Freewheelin' to Desire.
It turned out that one day I went on their MySpace and hear a new tune that was uploaded, called Pretending.
The first thing that hooked me was the strumming of the guitar intro .. Not the usual strumming that is the trendy nowadays... pushes, pushes and pulls .. this starts with lots of energy .. like That's Entertainment by The Jam or William it was Really Nothing by the Smiths and once the first verse is done it comes the faint, faraway voice to the chorus that brings some vocals reminiscence to the E.L.O. or the Kinks in the 70's ... piano and second verse .. still rising, rising ... Until it bangs again..
Then it features a bridge and swing syncopation that gives way to a string arrangement that reminds me of the outro of See Emily Play the cover Bowie did on Pin Ups and clear and the inevitable Alone Again Or by Love.
With this foundation of string quartet, strummed the guitar back and last stanza .. back to the chorus.
I'm hoping to hear it live, meanwhile enjoy ..
Pretending
I tried for a while to get into style Felt like naked on the floor May I ask a little more?
But baby how does it feel when you are lonesome I know you wish that you were someone How can you go on just pretending Laughing at the life you’re spending Babe can’t you see there’s just no ending I wish we could go on pretending Wish we could go on just pretending
I tried for a while, I walked twenty miles But she knows not what she means I tried for so long I just can’t go on For she took away my wings I tried to forget we never had met But I see her in my dreams I’m feeling so tired, I’m hanging on the wire
I took her out a while I think I faintly saw her smile And then I took her by the sea to try to figure what she means I tried so hard to get across but in the while my signals lost I’ll just keep knocking on her door I’m gonna try Try to get some more
Ricky Malberg is a musician of the Barcelona scene, involved in several projects
