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Republichick | New York | 06/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm mostly a punk and metal fan, and yet I have only two things to say about this album: 1.) It should be issued at birth. 2.) Buy two copies in case one ever gets lost or ruined."

Going home...

Mr. Devil | Canada | 10/23/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One night I laid down in my bed and closed me eyes and really listened to "Nada". I can count two or maybe three other songs that have ever given me the same evocative shivers I felt that night."Nada" is the end of Fizzy's journey, and it works so well as a closer simply because Roger is playing with the listener's mind that perhaps this song is indeed a summation of what must be considered a stunning concept record. Even when the words themselves drift an arm's distance away from the Mexicana, the music behind them never seems to stray. Gems like "Interstate", "Blue Collar Suicide" and "Suckerpunch" appear superficially autonmous, but even after a hundred listenings, it is hard to picture Mr. Clyne singing them without his hat.Lyrically, the record is a touching, twelve stanza poem, often funny, always gifted. The humor is easy to appreciate because it is wickedly clever, and Roger sings with the kind of detached conviction that makes these songs sound at once both earnest and light-hearted. He demonstrates humility in "European Swallow" which seems almost intentional, and yet we cannot help but smile when he gets punched in the face after insulting his enemy's girlfriend. Sometimes the comical feel of the album is obviously contrived, as in "Girly" and "Banditos", yet at other times it is funny simply because it isn't trying to be, such as the "Down Together" line: 'I could give you a star / You could give me one, too / And that way we'd be even.' The smart humor scattered throughout this record is one of its many charms.The musicianship on Fizzy is exhilarating, but the stringwork stands out more than anything else. It is absolutely flawless, and solos like that found on the wonderful "Mekong" inspire bathroom mirror air-guitar fodder by nature. It isn't just the solos either... numbers like the melancholy "I Don't Wanna Know" illustrate a true master of the craft at work.It is surprising that with the countless references to Mexico (including a beautiful song by that name and liner notes written in pseudo-Spanish) that the album doesn't even border on overkill. I cannot recall any other album so completely centered around one theme, but Fizzy's constant homage to the dust and warm beer that inspired it only makes the whole record stronger. Which brings us back to "Nada", the best song on the record and, I suspect, the most meaningful to its writers. It is like a five minute movie, and somewhere inside our eyes we can really see Roger as the star. I envision him driving home, back across the border in that old truck, 'leaving the border far behind'.... leaving the very place that has been his muse for creating a fabulous and wholly satisfying piece of art. I see him watching 'the storm down in Mexico' from his rear-view mirror. And I see the chorus as his testament of love and longing for Mexico... his confession that maybe these songs, these stories, are real, and maybe not. "Nada" is about leaving. It is about going home. It is about the end of the journey, one that captures us and charms us and makes us feel good."