François-Regis Cambuzat
Notre-Dame des naufragés (St Malô Perdono)

The Kim Squad & Dinah Shore Zeekapers (Headbangers) sprouted in mid-80s Rome and after some initial lineup changes, they settled on the lineup consisting of Frenchman François-Regis Cambuzat (guitar and vocals), Roberta Possamai (keyboards), Elena Palmieri (bass), Angelo Pinna (drums), Giorgio “the Greek” Curcetti (guitar).

The Kim Squad quickly began to make a name for themselves in the underground circuit, setting the capital on fire with their blistering performances. I remember the first time I saw them play live in a place on the edge of the empire. It was an incredibly engaging concert, with no more than a hundred people, ending with an improbable version of the Talking Heads' “Psycho Killer,” during which François invited the audience to get on stage to dance and sing with the band. It was love at first sight for me, for Kim and for Roberta. The only other time I've seen something similar happen was many years later, by a mature but no less wild Iggy Pop, during a reunion concert of the Stooges.

The Kims, buoyed by the following they gained on the ground and the interest developing around them, decided to participate in Indipendenti, the contest by the magazine Fare Musica that awarded the best emerging Italian band of the year. And so, in May 1987, François and his companions found themselves in the finals, on the stage of the Rai Auditorium in Turin where they showcased their explosive, visceral, streetwise Rock'n'Roll, overwhelming everyone, rivals, audience, and critics, winning the competition and the prize which consisted of a record contract for the release of an album with none other than Virgin.

The Kim Squad & Dinah Shore changed the suffix from Headbangers to Zeekapers (which in Dutch should mean filibusters), and in July 1987, they shut themselves in the Pollicino Studio in Rome alongside producer Oderso Rubini. In just two days, they completed the recordings of Young Bastards which were done live, making it essentially a live studio album. An extraordinary album where there is garage rock but also much more, there is the French chanson, the Doors and psychedelia, there is the charisma of François who is a stage animal like few have been seen in these parts, the dark allure of Elena and Roberta, the sound of her organ which she jokingly called "Himmond", Giorgio's killer guitar and Angelo's metronomic drumming. Eight unforgettable tracks evenly split between the two sides with the overwhelming “Broken Promises” and “Renaissance” respectively opening and closing.

The second time I saw them play was at the Rai Auditorium in Naples, on the occasion of the second edition of Indipendenti (won by Pescara's Vegetable Men), in which the Kim Squad participated as guests, as winners of the previous edition. Once again their explosive performance remained vividly impressed in the memory of those present. They ended their set with eleven incendiary minutes of “Renaissance,” after which they left the stage, leaving the instruments on, emitting feedback, spreading white noise throughout the auditorium for a few minutes, until the American guests of the event, Thin White Rope, also blessed that evening, took the stage.

Soon after, the Kim Squad would begin to unravel, probably due to the new evolutionary paths taken by François, drawn to the decadent aesthetics of a chansonnier and anarchic and extremist political positions. And so, even before the coroner declares Kim officially dead (a sad event that would be certified in 1990), François in 1988 recorded Notre Dame Des Naufragés (St Malô Perdono) for the Stile Libero label with Virgin distribution, once again produced by Oderso Rubini and Stefano Bonagura, who was already part of the Young Bastards project. Again, there are eight songs in the lineup, mostly sung in French, but also in Italian and English, to underscore the internationalist (or perhaps stateless) vocation of this work. Alongside François, who takes care of singing and playing the acoustic guitar, is only Roberta Possamai on piano and accordion.

Notre Dame Des Naufragés is an acoustic, intimate, and introverted album, to play on a rainy day while watching the drops slide along the slightly fogged window panes. An album of bitter and salty ballads. An album that oozes solitude. An album where the bastard Rock of the Kim Squad no longer exists in form but survives in substance, in the spirit of revolt against the world, against everything. “Et si le monde etait une vieille putain?”. An album where echoes of Jacques Brel and Georges Brassens are heard from afar but also De Andrè, the early records of Leonard Cohen and Lou Reed's “Perfect Day.” François shows us his arsenal of scarves, jackets and pointed boots, of stubbed-out Galois and unlit cigars, of half-empty whisky bottles. “I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't curse. Damn, I dropped my cigar in the whisky!” In some cases, recordings are done outdoors to capture ambient sounds and allow François to introduce us to his variety show of wave sloshing, gusts of wind, clock ticks and dripping water. “It’s dark at 6 and a grey rain is on at 7”. “Sante Marie Des Ondes”, “Paola Wrote Me”, “A l'ete, que lui as-tu donc fait?”, “Arrivo dal Mare”, “La Foule”, “Vents Du Monde”, “Au bord du noir”, “Ailleurs, sur le quais...” are songs of love and anarchy. Songs that express a quiet desperation, that deliver to us a precious album, a raw diamond that with each listening gains new facets. The quiet dress rehearsal for the Grand Bitter Theatre to follow shortly.

“Arrivo dal mare e vaffanculo a te. Ho bevuto cinque oceani and I’ve been swimming in the seas e adesso mi dici che mi ami. Sono marcio fottuto bastardo”.