Speaking of the quintessentially Italian Chrunch, we cannot ignore that wave of dirty, malevolent, and raw rock that characterized America in the late '80s and early '90s.

Terms like grunge, sludge, and alternative will indeed flash in your mind as soon as you listen to the debut of this extraordinary yet ill-fated band.

Released in 1995 by Vacation House, "Trigger Happy Trespasser" shows that the sick germs of TAD, Melvins, early Nirvana, and Unsane had also claimed victims in the beautiful country.

Music without any sort of compromise and an attitude as stubborn as it is damn visceral distinguished the project in question, leaving not an indelible but certainly significant mark in the crowded undergrowth of rock branded Italy (nothing to do with the namesake music showcase!).

The Crunch hit us in the face with their ferocity from the first notes of "Shift' Clash." Low tunings, pachydermic guitar riffs, a rhythm section advancing almost like a tracked vehicle, and an abrasive voice capable, at times, of echoing the aforementioned Unsane.

"In A Split Of Second" is even more metallic and square. A track that strikes for its sonic intensity and inhuman vocalizations.

"Free Thinking Vacant Bullet" increases the tension, as if a bomb were to explode at any moment.

The songs, on the whole, are eleven and quite homogeneous, though presenting some valid flashes of originality.

At the conclusion of the album, a twisted cover of Nirvana's "School" bids farewell to a work that, in the reviewer's opinion, deserves to be listened to and re-listened to. Not because the Crunch lived by their own light alone. But because their feverish and ungainly trademark was unmistakable and absolutely genuine.

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