European reviews

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Oct 08: http://sands-zine.com/recensioni.php?IDrec=1241

“A HULL FULL OF OIL AND BONE: Surviving in this big world of shit”

by Matteo Uggeri

“Banks collapse, investors are on the rocks, oil is running out, the USA is picking quarrels with everybody, Italy is in the hands of a pack of criminals and I have a toothache.

“It's hard to wake up with a smile on your lips in such a world of shit, there is not much to do but try to take all these bad words and make an attempt to talk about it at least, even better to sing about it, with a lively catchiness and without getting gastritis. It looks like this is what the excellent Listing Ship are trying to do, with this fresh album that hits the cords of country, pop, western soundtracks and the good old rock & roll - whatever thing it is. I'd bet my testes that the singer loved Johnny Cash and in fact the Big Johnny is quoted among their influence, together with Abba(?) and other almost dated exponents like Belle & Sebastian, Magnetic Fields and Arcade Fire. There is no doubt:  "A Hull full of Oil and Bone" has a bit of everything, with more - I'd say - a female voice that reminds Kristin Hersh and Irish folk violas.

“There is nothing new or upsetting, so that I'm sure also my dad   - he only listens to Joan Baez (maybe her soul is what Listing Ship evoke more often) - and the cool Buscadero's readers would like them . Anyway I love this album a lot, starting from the design to the lyrics, and I have already listened to it an hundred of times.

“More, I think they are too fucking nice (they are seven people and they self-produce everything), and this is good in a wor;d where teenagers want to fuck in Tokyo hotels.

“The wonderful seven were in Italy this year - read a little bit of their blog and tell me if it's worth it to buy their album -

“ ’Ah yes, the food. There is no way to describe this here. Suffice to say, it's fun to eat in Italy. Our day off near Savona (close to the French border), we had a three hour lunch at an amazing trattoria, after having been escorted to a "picturesque spot" at the oceanside by some Italian policemen (who had originally stopped to let Shawn jaywalk across the street to the van, then drove over to the van to see what was up, then ended up hanging out with the band and our Italians, then put on their police hats to take PICTURES with the band, in the middle of the street, then ended up escorting us to the oceanside to see the pretty view, very mediterranean, then stopping back in a few hours to check on us and making sure we were ok, then directing us to a place to have a good lunch on a Sunday...you get the idea...’

“It's a world of shit but we need to smile sometimes.”

                                                                   

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Autore: LucaMauro Assante

04/09/2006  http://www.freakout-online.com/album.aspx?idalbum=999

"L'estate è la stagione adatta per "sognare". E, ad onor del vero, il terzo disco dei Listing Ship si sposa perfettamente con l'idea di evasione dai percorsi troppo lineari. Magari l'introduttiva e bucolica "American Song" potrebbe risultare fuorviante sul contenuto dell'intero disco. Al passo successivo, lo scanzonato indie-rock di "The Temptation Of Miss Piggy" già conduce verso altri territori sonori. Così fa il resto della scaletta che procede zigzagando tra echi new-wave ("Chinese Song") e derive country ("Dans La Cuisine", "Death") per poi passare a reconditi omaggi ai Velvet Underground vs Joy Division ("Crooked Teeth") ed al folk strumentale ("Laura Lee Drives South In Spring"). Forse solo la parte finale dell'album si stabilizza su di un sound più morbido e "roots". Non che questo sia un male, si intende, almeno nel loro caso. La piccola orchestra dei Listing Ship, insomma, si dimostra capace di reggere anche sulla lunga distanza, senza denotare grosse cadute d'ispirazione. Peccato solo per la distribuzione "carbonara" di cui godono in Italia le loro opere. Se la media qualitativa si manterrà su questi livelli, comunque, il problema dovrebbe essere presto arginato."