Last Romance

Hermanos are one of those rock solid bands which, because of all the thought and all the work they put into their songs, deserve a sure status of local heroes. It's no wonder why you have people like Maria João and Maria Rita covering their stuff, and with arguably lesser outputs. And yet again, like Silo, they are some of most underrated people out there - actually they don't even exist anymore. Most people here in Portugal only know them because of the hit single Ana Júlia and are completely astray about anything else.

So what makes these guys so good? Okay, just bear for one moment the structure of Last Romance. The vocal melody is simply other-wordly. And the lyrics, boy, these lyrics will kill you! Just check out this shit:

And just by seeing you I think about changing - uh uh uh - my TV player as a way of taking you somewhere you might want to go to and to go with the wind and to both of us to leave home is to take a stride.

Wow! Is this poetry or something? How many solid rock guys will you have making lyrics of this calibre? Okay okay, maybe Dave Matthews, I'll grant you that. But not much more people.

And what about the beautifully saint-exupéryan verses of Beyond What We Can See:

Fetch one more for dinner tonight, for today I'm going there to see you, take the sound off that TV so that we may talk.

Boy, can these guys play with simple people's concepts! The whole thing is so melodically and rhythmically articulated, and the small ensemble arrangements are so in-your-face culminating in the beautifully spacious coda. Boy, can you not see the beauty in these guys' work?

04/08/08

Último Romance

Os Hermanos são uma daquelas bandas de rock que, pela quantidade de trabalho que põem nas suas canções, e a pensar o que é que resulta aqui e ali (também conhecido como arranjos) merecem o estatuto de heróis. Quer dizer, não é por acaso que a Maria Rita e a Maria João até fazem versões dos rapazes. E, curiosamente, são uma banda quase desconhecida e já extinta.

Quer dizer, contemplemos uma estrutura como a do Último Romance: a melodia vocal é simplesmente indefectível. Toda a deambulação tonal do

'e até quem me ver lendo o jornal - uh uh uh - na fila do pão sabe que eu te encontrei' / 'e ninguém dirá que é tarde demais, que é tão diferente assim, do nosso amor a gente é que sabe...' / 'ah vai, me diz o que é o sufoco que eu te mostro alguém a fim de te acompanhar' / 'eu encontrei ah ah ah e quis...' / até chegar ao inacreditável de tão bom e tão bem conseguido 'e só te de te ver eu penso em trocar - uh uh uh - a minha TV no jeito de te levar a qualquer lugar que você queira e ir onde o vento for, que pra nós dois sair de casa já é se aventurar', e a melodia brutal (no sentido mesmo pesado do termo) que se segue. Foda-se, estes gajos são demais!

And just by seeing you I think about changing - uh uh uh - my TV player as a way of taking you somewhere you want to go to and to go with the wind and to both us to leave home is to take a stride' Wow! Is this poetry or something? How many solid rock guys will you have making lyrics of this calibre? Okay okay, maybe Dave Matthews, I can grant you that. But not much more people.

And about the beautifully elusive of Le Petit Prince

Põe mais um na mesa de jantar, porque hoje eu vou para aí te ver, e tira o som dessa TV para a gente conversar

Fetch one more for dinner tonight, for today I'm going there to see you, take the sound off that TV so that we can talk

Boy, can these guys play with people's concepts!

04/08/2008