Abiku
Technicolor

Remember
To sanctify the mistakes
That are the only way
To pull yourself out

(from “I Nostri Temporali”)

In the provinces, excellent shoegaze is made. In rehearsal rooms near shopping centers, there is no shortage of heirs to Neil Halstead and company, who, Rickenbacker in hand and a flood of contradictory thoughts in their heads, create walls of sweet and distorted sound, singing—o Muse—the wrath of youthful inexperience seeking redemption and fortune, far from the empty life of the suburbs.

The Grosseto-based Abiku fit perfectly into this alchemy. Unknown, fortunately for them, to the big label market, they self-produced their first album, "Technicolor," in 2011, after a couple of very promising EPs—"Deriva" and "999"—available for free download on Bandcamp. In doing so, it must be admitted, they aligned themselves with what will (or rather, already is) the standard of future music production, especially for emerging bands (although fans can still order the physical format of "Technicolor": a compact disc that pretends to be vinyl, but is not, revealing the band’s strong taste for vintage).

To be simplistic yet accurate, one might say that Abiku (vocals and guitar: Giacomo Amaddii Barbagli; bass: Virna Angelini; keyboards: Edoardo Lenzi) have drawn heavily not only from the shoegaze realm of Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine, probably—one might hazard a guess—among the greatest inspirations for their sound, but also from the decadent atmospheres of The Cure and Joy Division, without overlooking the occasional, but noticeable, forays into the more recent dream pop domain (do we mean Radio Dept. or Edwood? Let’s say it). It is no coincidence that so many such masters are guiding these young individuals, who, despite their youth, possess a significant and diverse musical background: each member of the group, as Barbagli himself has stated on more than one occasion, has a distinct background, a strong personality that contributes to the essence of the twelve tracks that make up Technicolor.

Let's now talk about the themes of this album. "Technicolor" “denounces” the existential difficulties of young men trapped in suburban boredom («Just a few more years and we will leave here / The story of the eternal provincials», from the fourth and eponymous track of the album); young men dreaming of leaving the nest, yet at the same time unwilling to part from the memories of beach walks, evenings with friends, the sea gilded by the July twilight, Tennent’s in hand and Wayfarers in their hair. «Summers in technicolor» that frame the most beautiful moments lived in the small town, far from the grand musical scene or any dream of poetic glory. All this, in perfect dream style, is enhanced by reverbs already heard in the great classics of '80s shoegaze, keyboards that make their presence known on more than one occasion (Kittinger (Canzone Sugli Aeroplani), one of the most accomplished and engaging pieces) and very determined bass lines. A note of merit also for the drummer, Stefano Campagna, whose touch is particularly refined.

Between dreams and memories, there is also room for love, which materializes in the image of the «Girls drawn on the walls / The pale pink of floral dresses» (Saint Etienne, third track), as retro as they are utopian, ethereal like the desires to escape and the transition from adolescence to adulthood. A barely perceptible transition in its swiftness. And precisely when «Summer seems never to end, the rains come» (I Nostri Temporali), sings Giacomo, possibly narrating the transformation moment of the young post-high school graduate, glued to the window, «The first drops on the windowsill», contemplating autumn’s implosions while reckoning his first, unrepeatable mistakes.

"Technicolor" is a modest essay of contemporary adolescent pop culture, where Barbagli’s literary vein emerges amid numerous “walls of sound” (as he himself says in Canzone Stilnovista), recommended for listening between the ages of sixteen and seventeen, perhaps after lighting a torch in the moonlight. Over the age of twenty, however, it might start to sound a bit off.