Rino Gaetano created lighthearted, melodic, and welcoming rock songs as a Trojan horse to deliver incisive lyrical barbs and sharp-eyed social commentary. And like Randy Newman and Tom Lehrer before him, he did it without starting from a particularly obvious political point of view. There's a clue to the depth of his feelings in that impassioned, scorched voice—pitched somewhere between John Lennon and Joe Strummer—but even when taking up the angry righteousness of reggae or agit-rock, the bitterness is always leavened with musical sweetness.