Telecommando Americano
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Telecommando Americano
| type = studio
| artist = Material Issue
| cover = Telecommando Americano.jpg
| alt =
| released = 1997
| recorded =
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = Power pop
| length =
| label = Rykodisc
| producer =
| prev_title = Goin' Through Your Purse: Live
| prev_year = 1994
| next_title =
| next_year =
}}
Telecommando Americano is an album by the American band Material Issue, released in 1997, one year after frontman Jim Ellison's suicide.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/material-issue-mn0000388972/biography|title=Material Issue Biography, Songs, & Albums|website=AllMusic}}{{cite magazine |last1=Pruzan |first1=Todd |title=Bright lights: The material world/Spring frost |magazine=Chicago |date=May 1997 |volume=46 |issue=5 |page=20}} It was the band's fourth album. The band's debut six-song EP, released on vinyl in 1987, was included with the album.{{cite news |last1=Guarino |first1=Mark |title=Music Notes |work=Daily Herald |date=7 Aug 1998 |location=Arlington Heights |department=Time Out| page=4}}{{Cite news|url=http://chicagoreader.com/music/into-the-sunset-2/|title=Into the Sunset|date=May 22, 1997|work=Chicago Reader}}
Production
The songs originated as voice/guitar demos by Ellison and were finished by his bandmates; they were recorded in 1995 and 1996.{{cite news |last1=Rothschild |first1=David |title=Material Issue to Release Last Songs by Ellison |work=Chicago Tribune |date=3 Feb 1997 |department=Tempo |page=5}} 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.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.furious.com/perfect/materialissue.html|title=Material Issue|magazine=Perfect Sound Forever}} "Carousel" is a ballad.{{cite news |last1=Kot |first1=Greg |title=The Chicago 15 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=28 Nov 1997 |department=Friday |pages=7, 19}} "Off the Hook" employs the busy signal of a phone line as its rhythmic foundation.{{cite news |last1=Maurstad |first1=Tom |title=Power-Pop Brokers |work=The Dallas Morning News |date=May 29, 1997 |page=5C}}
Critical reception
{{music ratings
|rev1 = AllMusic
|rev1score = {{rating|3|5}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/telecommando-americano-mw0000023645|title=Material Issue Telecommando Americano|website=AllMusic}}
|rev2 = Chicago Sun-Times
|rev2score = {{rating|3.5|4}}{{cite news |last1=Kim |first1=Jae-Ha |title='Telecommando Americano' review |work=Chicago Sun-Times |date=May 18, 1997 |department=Showcase |page=13}}
|rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
|rev3score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=MUZE |volume=5 |page=566}}
|rev4 = MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide
|rev4score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |date=1999 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |pages=722–723}}
|rev5 = The Philadelphia Inquirer
|rev5score = {{rating|2.5|4}}{{cite news |last1=Moon |first1=Tom |title=Pop Is Back, Melodiously, Joyously |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=30 Mar 1997 |page=F1}}
|rev6 = The Plain Dealer
}}
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."{{Cite news|url=https://www.dallasobserver.com/music/out-there-6402853|title=Out There|first=Matt|last=Weitz|work=Dallas Observer}} Phoenix New Times opined: "If the power-pop crowd needs its Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs to wallow in, this is surely it."{{Cite news|url=https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/recordings-6422835|title=Recordings|first=Serene|last=Dominic|work=Phoenix New Times}}
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."{{cite news |last1=Kot |first1=Greg |title=Last Dance: Material Issue's Final Glimpse of Jim Ellison |work=Chicago Tribune |date=1 June 1997 |department=Arts & Entertainment |page=7}} 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."{{cite web |title=Permanent Records: Albums from The A.V. Club's Hall of Fame |url=https://www.avclub.com/permanent-records-albums-from-the-a-v-clubs-hall-of-f-1798212802 |website=The A.V. Club |access-date=27 July 2022}}
Track listing
{{Track listing
| all_writing =
| title1 = Satellite
| length1 =
| title2 = What If I Killed Your Boyfriend
| length2 =
| title3 = 2 Steps
| length3 =
| title4 = 976-Love
| length4 =
| title5 = Young American Freak
| length5 =
| title6 = Carousel
| length6 =
| title7 = London Girl
| length7 =
| title8 = You Were Beautiful
| length8 =
| title9 = Our Daughter
| length9 =
| title10 = Head Shop
| length10 =
| title11 = Off the Hook
| length11 =
| title12 = (0.15)
| length12 =
}}