Bad Love Experience
Pacifico

The album in question is the demonstration of the "promotional" utility of music videos; in fact, I learned about the band (Bad Love Experience) and their latest work ("Pacifico") after discovering, during a browse on YouTube, the video for "Dawn Ode".

The suite "The Kids Have Lost The War", divided into 4 parts, opening (part I and part II) and closing (part III and part IV) the album, gives the idea of a concept album. It continues with "Devil In Town" and "That Country Road", demonstrating the use of Beach Boys-style vocal harmonizations and the richness of the arrangements in "Pacifico": strings in the former, brass in the latter. The psych-pop instrumental tail of "That Country Road" introduces the next track "Old Oak Wood", a peculiar blend of ukulele and "dance hall" keyboards (or at least that's the impression). The use of unconventional instruments is confirmed by "Dream Eater", centered around an accordion riff that evokes Balkan atmospheres (see Beirut). "Cotton Candy" and "Samba To Hell" are the two instrumental tracks on the album, cleverly included in the tracklist to give the listener a breather. The aforementioned "Dawn Ode", true creative pinnacle of the batch, is a track with a hypnotic cadence reminiscent of the best psychedelic tradition.

The Livorno-based Bad Love Experience with "Pacifico" have managed to create an international album, despite the not-so-perfect pronunciation (but who really cares), multiform and versatile, yet at the same time homogeneous and organic, and with a strong sonic identity. Highly recommended.