Automatica Aggregazione
Ancora noi... ancora oi!

Are you a fan of big, booming voices that sound like they come more from an exhaust pipe than from a vocal cord? Do you enjoy drinking with friends and spending evenings talking trash about the world? Did you grow up in the suburbs? Or maybe you grew up in the historical city center but always resented the bourgeois folks around you? Do you like heavy riffs and singalongs and aren’t crazy about overly schizophrenic hardcore?

Well, this is the album for you. Automatica Aggregazione deliver straightforward Oi! with a strong rock and roll vibe, reminiscent of the first wave of street punk—I’m talking Cock Sparrer and the like. Forget anything that might resemble introspection à la Negazione or Frammenti, and let’s also put aside anything that might recall political ferocity ("unfortunately"). Here we have simple punk—not too heavy, admittedly a bit behind the times, but high-quality nonetheless. If it had been released in 1995, it would be considered a milestone; obviously, it wasn’t released in 1995, so it isn’t a milestone, but I think tracks like "Infame" or the title track outshine more celebrated songs from the golden years. The two tracks mentioned are among the best—the former with a fiercely catchy chorus, the latter with its riotous atmosphere—and to me, they represent the highlights of the album, together with "Radici" and "Generazione", which features a textbook chorus. In fact, the album sounds fresh, with a well-built sound and melodies that are far from predictable, delivering a "product" (how I hate calling albums that…) of excellent craftsmanship that establishes Automatica Aggregazione as one of the most remarkable bands in the current Italian Oi! scene. The lyrics? Don’t expect much in any sense, but the rhymes stick in your head and the choruses work. After all, whatever needed to be said had already been said in the year this album was released. The melodic section is actually the album’s real strength: the rough-edged vocals fit perfectly with the rest, and there’s clear taste in the guitar work, with even a few solos worthy of any proper hard rock band.

So, should you listen to this album? Yes, do it. With its not overly heavy style, even if it’s not a historic album it can be a great starting point for those not yet familiar with these sounds. In other words, the album is really good and—as a work—its real flaw is being behind the times, which is something that has to bring down the rating. But as an album, it works. Rating: 79/100.