City Kids
The Orphans Parade

Whatever the reasons for the deep bond between Rob Younger and Italy, every local rocker should proudly boast about it daily: for years now, Rob has been regularly visiting these shores, sometimes with the resurrected Birdman, other times with the remaining New Christs, or when on his own.

But since the eighties, Rob Younger has been a frequent visitor to Italian soil, not only to set unstable stages ablaze hastily put up in some foggy land but also in the capacity of a producer for young promising bands: among these, I fondly remember the transalpine cousins City Kids.

They come from Le Havre; somehow, Rob notices them and thinks that, yes, they are sharp enough to lend them a hand in the recording studio. The initial routine encounters go well, so it can be done. Rob packs his bags, jumps in the car heading to the airport, just a detour to pick up the trusty Alan Thorne – the greatest duo ever paired in a rock recording studio – the two board the plane and, after an intercontinental flight, arrive in the Old World. Where? In Italy, of course, in Florence.

It's August 1986, in Florence it's hard to surf like in Sydney, at most one can binge on Renaissance culture and four-inch-high steaks, but Rob and Alan are there for something else, they have a mission to accomplish; just a few days later, the four Kids arrive as well, and together they barricade themselves in the Emme Studio to sweat out rock and roll. The folks from I.R.A. are also there to witness the show and to brand the black vinyl that will be born from those sessions.

Not even a week later, the doors of the Emme Studio reopen to the light of the scorching August sun; the City Kids head back home, as do Rob and Alan: they carry under their arm some tapes to be mixed and mastered properly in Sydney. The dynamic duo works hard because a mission has to be accomplished without delay and, hence, just a few more days and here's «The Orphans Parade».

The cover is beautiful, among the most beautiful of the decade.

The music is rock and roll, because the basic lineup is the classic voice/guitar/bass/drums quartet that churns out determined and edgy sounds, «Poison Dream», «The Real Thing», and especially «S.H. Infirmity» could become little anthems, it doesn't turn out that way but that's fine. But it's unconventional rock and roll, if one pays attention to the violin and cello that make an appearance in «Rebels», «Nightfall», and «All Fools Day», and the solemn wave-like vocal style makes «The Orphans Parade» a curious hybrid between Litfiba's «Desaparecido» and the I.R.A. that was and the New Christs of «Distemper» that will be, also produced in Italy, industrious Milan instead of scholarly Florence.

«The Orphans Parade» is not a masterpiece, far from it, but it's a record worth having in your collection and giving a listen to from time to time, even thirty years after its release, that yes, definitely.