Calibro 35
Decade

To say that the success of Calibro 35 is unjustified would be inaccurate. Their musical offering perfectly matches what the audience is seeking. They are closely tied to the most influential environment of the "alternative" rock scene in our country (of which they are actually a part) and they revive the distinctly Italian historical taste for certain progressive sounds mixed with a seventies aesthetic that is at once referential (yet perfectly integrated into a context steeped in the cult of cinematic and television productions such as "Vallanzasca", "Romanzo Criminale", and even "Gomorra") and easy-listening or at least appealing. Apart from all this, the fact is they are a band of musicians with great technical skills. As for inventiveness, well, this is where, in my opinion, the overall positive judgment must be reconsidered, because apart from never actually offering something concretely new, their productions are practically repetitive. This is probably inevitable for a project developed entirely around a single concept, but it certainly constitutes a limitation.

"Decade" (Record Kicks), as the name suggests, celebrates the ten years of the band's existence. The album immediately makes a pleasant impact with a great piece like "Psycheground," clearly the best track on the album and practically a kind of ethio-jazz in the style of Mulatu Astatke, and it maintains a good level with other interesting moments such as the funk of "SuperStudio" and the orchestral jazz sound of "Faster Faster!", the Afro influences of "Pragma" and the minimalist experimentalism of "Modulor". After that, the group falls into the abyss of the usual already mentioned clichés and unnecessary referentialism that have frankly tired out. Not to mention the resort to useless mannerisms, which may be dictated by the great technical skills of this ensemble, but I find absolutely superfluous and at a certain point, even a sort of mask behind which to hide the lack of content and ideas.

I would only save from the rest of the album the brief experimental glimpse of "Polymeri". For the rest, "Decade" mostly confirms my negative feelings about this group and what I have already reiterated in the premise of this review. The standards of the album are the same as the rest of Calibro 35's productions (which means that the band's longtime admirers might not be disappointed) and align with that same forcibly vintage taste and progressive references that in Italy perhaps have always somehow been outdated even in the seventies. Forcedly out of time, the positive episodes of this album are both a point in favor of Calibro 35 but also cause for great regret for what could be their unexpressed potential, and then you don't know if this is their limitation or a choice. In the latter case, their fault would even be unforgivable.