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Telecommando Americano
Studio album by Material Issue
Released	1997
Genre	Power pop
Label	Rykodisc
Material Issue chronology
Goin' Through Your Purse: Live (1994) Telecommando Americano (1997)

Telecommando Americano is an album by the American band Material Issue, released in 1997, one year after frontman Jim Ellison's suicide. It was the band's fourth album. The band's debut six-song EP, released on vinyl in 1987, was included with the album.

Production

The songs originated as voice/guitar demos by Ellison and were finished by his bandmates; they were recorded in 1995 and 1996. They are not autobiographical, as Ellison was not a fan of confessional songwriting. "(0.15)", the final song, is 15 seconds of intentionally recorded silence. "Carousel" is a ballad. "Off the Hook" employs the busy signal of a phone line as its rhythmic foundation.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Chicago Sun-Times
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Plain Dealer	B

Dallas Observer wrote that Material Issue's "mix of plaintive post-adolescent longing (and anger), rock convention, and snappy songcraft reflected the pop ideals kept alive by New Wave into yet another decade while preserving the bleeding heart of an earlier era." Phoenix New Times opined: "If the power-pop crowd needs its Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs to wallow in, this is surely it."

The Chicago Tribune called the album "a top-down, crank-the-amps blend of three-minute rockers and equally terse, heart-crushing ballads that reaffirms Material Issue's stature as among the best things to happen to Midwest power-pop since the 1970s heyday of Cheap Trick and the Raspberries." The Chicago Sun-Times deemed it "a strong, fitting close to the band's all too short legacy of perfect pop songs."

AllMusic wrote: "No matter how good these are, there's a sense that Ellison took his life before he reached his full potential, and that's really what makes Telecommando Americano so sad—he had the gift, but he hadn't completely mastered it yet." The A.V. Club noted that, "as hopes of stardom faded, the darkness increasingly came to the fore."

Track listing

References

1. ^ Moon, Tom (30 Mar 1997). "Pop Is Back, Melodiously, Joyously". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. F1.
2. "Material Issue Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
3. Pruzan, Todd (May 1997). "Bright lights: The material world/Spring frost". Chicago. Vol. 46, no. 5. p. 20.
4. ^ Soeder, John (June 27, 1997). "Telecommando Americano Material Issue". Friday. The Plain Dealer. p. 29.
5. Guarino, Mark (7 Aug 1998). "Music Notes". Time Out. Daily Herald. Arlington Heights. p. 4.
6. ^ "Into the Sunset". Chicago Reader. May 22, 1997.
7. Rothschild, David (3 Feb 1997). "Material Issue to Release Last Songs by Ellison". Tempo. Chicago Tribune. p. 5.
8. ^ Kot, Greg (1 June 1997). "Last Dance: Material Issue's Final Glimpse of Jim Ellison". Arts & Entertainment. Chicago Tribune. p. 7.
9. "Material Issue". Perfect Sound Forever.
10. Kot, Greg (28 Nov 1997). "The Chicago 15". Friday. Chicago Tribune. pp. 7, 19.
11. Maurstad, Tom (May 29, 1997). "Power-Pop Brokers". The Dallas Morning News. p. 5C.
12. ^ "Material Issue Telecommando Americano". AllMusic.
13. ^ Kim, Jae-Ha (May 18, 1997). "'Telecommando Americano' review". Showcase. Chicago Sun-Times. p. 13.
14. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 5. MUZE. p. 566.
15. MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. pp. 722–723.
16. Weitz, Matt. "Out There". Dallas Observer.
17. Dominic, Serene. "Recordings". Phoenix New Times.
18. "Permanent Records: Albums from The A.V. Club's Hall of Fame". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 27 July 2022.

• Material Issue albums
• 1997 albums
• Rykodisc albums