Gang
Ritorno al fuoco

BLACK ALERT! In Star Trek's "Discovery," with the black alert, one could "jump" instantly to any quadrant, any corner of the universe with the spore drive along the "mycelial highways." This came to mind after reading the stories contained in the latest work by the Filottrano brothers. They too "jump" in time back and forth, gifting us with a new wonderful chapter of their story. And so, in the murky pond where the current Italian music floats, stuffed with talent shows and X factors, a gigantic stone arrives to create an endless series of ripples, stories, memories not to be forgotten (and by the way, I should add that the last stone was thrown not long ago by Samuele Bersani and his cinema...).

The Gang's album is titled "Ritorno al fuoco" and contains 10 unpublished songs and a cover. It was created thanks to a crowdfunding campaign, a sort of common fund that allowed the Severini brothers to collect over seventy thousand euros for the realization of the work. More than 1500 co-producers joined by contributing a fee: that's how a free album is born! I had the fortune to listen to it in advance as a co-producer and was very surprised by the sound, the rich arrangements (especially the brass) and by the "militant folk" imbued in many of the songs on the CD. Arranged by Jono Manson, it featured the participation of numerous top international musicians. It was recorded partly in Italy and partly in America in the producer's studio. A dignified work, the result of the freedom that Marino and Sandro Severini have, freed from record companies. The pleasure of saying something when it is the moment, the importance of writing texts that light a fire around which to sit and rediscover the humanity of people. This is "Ritorno al fuoco."

The album has an impressive backbone of brass that immediately fires many shots in the opening song "La banda Bellini" where Marino starts the "jumps" in time reaching the seventies. The words take us back to the Casoretto, a quintessential communist district of Milan where the band was at home, "five rows of ten, face covered, stick under the raincoats and wrench in pocket", a security service for certain demonstrations, hunting cops and fascists. Another "jump" this time "timeless" in the song "Via Modesta Valenti," an elderly homeless woman, symbol of the poverty condition of the homeless. A sweet and poignant song, another story to tell around the fire ("they are angels and devils fallen into the void...and the night spits them on the face of god"). Manson has embarked the Severini brothers on a ship that sails through the sea of history. They "jump" again to reach "El Pepe" dedicated to the former president of Uruguay, the last giant of utopia, a dreamer who remained faithful to his ideals where the chorus, unfortunately, slightly weakens the song, "Rojava libero" where the Gang sound is felt the most and the delicate "Azadi" of Pakistani Kashmir. The Gang's "Discovery" "jumps" to our times with "Il treno per Riace" complete with mariachi, a tribute to the "Riace method" on the reception of migrants in a small town headed by a small great man: Mayor Mimmo Lucano. They "jump" again to 1891 in the angry and bitter "Dago", another story to remember. It's the story of thousands of American citizens assaulting a prison where 11 Italians were unjustly detained, accused of the murder of a police chief. The "good citizens" Americans massacred the Italians with guns and clubs and hung their bodies, exposed to everyone's view. A sad story but one that must be told, remembered. Not to forget. "Concetta" is among the most touching songs on the CD. It's a special dedication, a slow ballad for Concetta Candido, the woman who set herself on fire in protest after being fired in Turin at the Inps headquarters. The violin is poignant, played by someone unknown to me (I don't have all the credits yet).

The album contains a cover: "A Pà" by Francesco De Gregori. It needs no introduction, but here are Marino Severini's words on the song, just to be clear: "Pasolini is a story that is still being torn apart today. On that corpse found at dawn on the Ostia coast, people still fight to strip away the flesh and the clothes...a despicable, infamous, and desecrating thing, typical of hyenas. Well, a song like A Pà gives me back Pasolini in his uniqueness, I would say in his essence, it recomposes all the parts. And it does so by bringing him home, to the Gospel, the one of Matthew, to that 'I want to live like the lilies in the fields...'"

On the cover of the CD, the brothers in a green field with an elephant in the background. Just to be clear on memory...

Some lyrics didn't entirely convince me. Maybe a bit too much repetition, perhaps, in the choruses or I'm not sure...I don't feel like assigning stars to the work which, anyway, I enjoyed a lot. I need to listen to it again and again, but I feel in my gut that "Nino", "Più forte della morte è l'amore" and "Marenostro" from "Sangue e cenere" are unrivaled. I would gladly sit around the fire to listen to the stories of this album. Maybe narrated by Marino himself.

Long live the Gang.