Fasten Belt
No Escape From Acid Hysteria

THE REVIEW

I had sworn not to write any more reviews for DeBaser. I had sworn it and imposed it on myself even though I had, in my modest curriculum of CDs and vinyls, some great albums to talk about.

But if in Italy Pannella teams up with Storace and if Pippo Baudo (years ago) moved to Mediaset, well, forgive me, but mine can be considered a light and surely negligible form of "incoherence." With the arrival of various users fixated on historic and elephantine groups, I certainly couldn't let this album fall into oblivion.

I want to talk to you here about Fasten Belt, a splendid musical creature from Rome. The group was disbanded two years ago due to the quiet passing of their vocalist Claudio Caleno. But their energy and freshness remain intact.

The album in question was produced in 1989 by our guys, through the now-defunct label High Rise. A concentrate of punk rock "stoogista", some hints of '77 and a lot of post-punk (sometimes enveloped in dark hues). Trust me: you won’t find anything by Fasten Belt on various download programs. In this case, it's mandatory to buy a copy of the album. May luck be with you because, alas, the works published by Fasten are not easily available in the market!

But let's talk now about the tracks contained in "No Escape From Acid Hysteria." "Kill The President" is, without a shadow of a doubt, the iconic song of the album and one of the warhorses of the now disbanded Capitol formation. Energetic rock 'n' roll and definitely punk in intention. Today's regicide, ironically meant!, targets the head of the executive or the republic.

"Exciting" is always part of that handful of intense tracks with a sound heavily indebted to the Iguana. It introduces a desperate scream and follows with a jaded, bored, and sooty voice.

"A Ray of Hope" is slower and perhaps more reflective. A stumbling track initially accompanied by a sinister riff that slowly explodes into infectious rock 'n' roll. The gem of the album, however, is for me represented by "Beyond The Door." A bit oriental and a bit darkwave. It seems to have come out of Siouxsie's hat or a less depressing version of what Christian Death did towards the beginning of their career. Definitely worth a listen.

Two more LPs in the Albion language will follow, along with the publication of an album in Italian, here’s a link to one of their famous videos, which will be accused of representing the "punk Ligabue way."

Anything else to declare? Two things.

The first is that Fasten Belt, despite their skill, never decided which "side" to stand on. Certainly inserted in the punk 'n' roll current, they flirted a bit too much with dark, psychedelia, and even grunge.

The second is that, despite this negligible flaw, our guys were cheerfully snubbed by the press and public (a bit like what happened, for example, with dark MonumentuM or grungers Movida) and this, excuse me, really pisses me off. One last and final invitation: seek them out!