Gazebo Penguins
Legna

THE REVIEW

I stumbled upon listening to this album by chance. I already knew them by name, perhaps I even listened to something random from their old repertoire but I have no memory of it. But I'm sure I've listened to this new album, eh!

The Gazebo Penguins, who also happen to have the coolest moniker ever, come from Emilia, specifically partly from Correggio and partly from Zocca. I'd never even heard of the latter before, and I still doubt its existence, but it's Vasco's hometown, so it must exist.

The Gazebo Penguins do emocore the old-fashioned way, emo before it got dumb.

I forgot, the Gazebo Penguins are three guys and they rock.

They made an EP and another album before this one. The first sung in a mix between English and Italian, the second in English. This "Legna" is sung in Italian because their English was and is crappy, according to them. But in Italian, it's better; you sing more joyfully and more lovingly. Much better, indeed. There's nothing more beautiful than being under the stage (if there is one) spitting the group's own lyrics back at them. And, believe me, if those lyrics are in Italian, it's a whole different story.

Did I already mention that they rock? I think I did.

This album is cool, period. It’s got anger, it’s got discomfort, it's rough and dirty but melodic, with that kind of melodicity that makes you say "hey! these guys are good with melodies!" (how many times have I repeated a derivative of "melody" in this sentence? Too many). The lyrics are beautiful, darn it. Balancing between irony and melancholy and melodramaticity (does it exist? if not, it's cool and they should invent it).

The first listen, as I said, happened by chance. A friend of mine shared a song on Facebook, "Il tram delle 6", and I listened to it because I told myself "I know these guys, and if he's sharing it, they must be good." And once I heard it, what should I do? Start singing?

The answer is: yes.

This album is meant to be sung at the top of your lungs at concerts, period. Just like you do with all the reality of this genre in our beautiful country. Just like I've done, for example, all 5 times I've seen Fine Before You Came live, who are comparable to the Penguins, indeed. By the way, in "Senza di te" Jacopo from FBYC actually sings, did you know? And there come the tears, the size of ice cubes, like the ones they put in Long Islands.

I've said all the essentials that there is to say, plus in a different style than usual (one more suited to bands of this genre). To be honest, who cares about a detailed analysis piece by piece, minute by minute? No one cares, least of all me.

If you want, download it from their official website, which I'll provide in the info. Don't be afraid, it'll only take half an hour of your time, 23 minutes to listen and about another 7 for the download. If you have a 56k and it doesn't take you 7 minutes, I'm sorry for you. If you like it, then buy it because it's cheap. I did, and now it just has to arrive.

All right. So what do we do now?

Now we drink. To drown the city.