Giuda
Speaks Evil

«Hey, hold yourself together, you're such a chav».

It's just that I never know where to put my hands when they're not busy: not in my pockets because they're always full of useless stuff; not crossed arms either, I would look like a bored intellectual; behind my back or down my sides, no way, too much like a soldier standing at attention. So inevitably, I slip my thumbs into my jeans loops and drum my hands to the beat on my legs.

Like a chav, yes, they point it out to me but I always shrugged it off.

All the more so, I shrug it off since I saw the video of «Wild Tiger Woman» and met the Giuda and the Giuda introduced me to Mud and I saw them play «Dynamite».

Here and now, it's time for Giuda and to close a circle opened some time ago with Bingo and then Taxi.

Rome Caput Punk.

Taxi ends their story after the death of drummer Francesco; they are a group of friends, some know each other from birth, some from elementary school, and it wouldn't make sense to continue pretending nothing has changed; so Tenda, Lorenzo, and Danilo take some time to see if the rock'n'roll itch passes and to readjust to the daily home-work-home routine.

That itch doesn't pass, in their free time they always meet in San Lorenzo in front of the place where they used to practice, but doing nothing but remembering is much more frustrating than getting back into action, and frustration can be lethal in certain bleak Roman suburbs.

There would be the stadium, Roma, and the exploits of Captain Totti, but people reluctantly participate since the football match has become for too many an excuse to fight and brandish knives, and then they meet a couple of times a month, a rare treat, while the passion should be unleashed every day.

Tenda, Lorenzo, and Danilo eventually get back into action.

They recruit Michele and Daniele, rent a garage as a rehearsal room, and choose the name Giuda: no socio-political implications, just because «... it's a name that sticks, that sounds good, and that looks great on a record cover ...».

Three years pass from the end of Taxi to the debut of Giuda, and they don't pass in vain.

Let's be clear, Taxi was a decidedly punk-oriented group but did not disdain to flaunt certain attitudes, positions, and stylistic choices that a hardcore punk could rightly label as heretical, just think of the slang tribute to glam movement and Slade in particular enclosed in that «Yu Tolk Tu Mach» which serves as the title of their second and final album.

It's no surprise, then, if the guys firmly maintain that «... after the psychedelia of the sixties and the virtuosity of the supergroups of the early seventies, bands like T-Rex and Slade brought rock'n'roll back to earth...»; for many others, it was the Ramones who saved the future of rock'n'roll, suffocating under Rick Wakeman's tunic.

Taxi before, and Giuda now, love Ramones and Slade equally and proudly advocate the closeness and community between glam and punk; and they certainly don't lower their eyes when they inevitably launch into «Saturday Night Is Alright For Fighting» by Elton John on stage.

Here is everything that erupts with violence from the listening of «Racey Roller», Giuda's debut album dated 2010, glam and punk that at a certain point start making out shamelessly and furiously, for ten tracks consumed in less than twenty-five minutes; and someone might call it a quickie, but one to remember for a long time.

Starting with that «Number 10» which begins the story and which there is no need to say to whom it's dedicated, or everyone can dedicate it to whoever they want. Those who see them play in Naples think of Maradona, in Florence of Antognoni, and meanwhile every town tower has its "number ten".

And if it seems a solemn absurdity, then this absurdity is so contagious that James Pallotta is Giuda's number one fan; a few years ago he bumped into them in a New York club, recognized them and started a conversation, and that night he's there under the stage moshing like crazy; while at Captain Totti they introduce them at the Trigoria sports center and he watches the video of «Number 10», laughs and jokes and finally gets photographed with the scarf saying «I’m A Giuda Fan»; and it's all true.

Despite fears of a change in direction, «Racey Roller» receives public acclaim and sells tens of thousands of copies, and who would have expected that.

But Giuda thoroughly deserve that small success, because their music is a breath of fresh air like it hadn't been heard in a long time, like you hadn't heard in too many years the hand-clapping reinforcing the snare drum, certain chants that could be termed "almost" oi or stadium-like, given the context, but do as you please; in any case, it's a great record to play in Rome.

But not only... The name of Giuda begins to circulate also and especially abroad, and our guys come to play frequently across borders and even overseas, clinching a record deal with the Swedish Burning Heart Records and finding themselves alongside Turbonegro, Refused, Millencolin, and so on.

For Burning Heart, in 2015 Giuda records «Speaks Evil», their third album.

But first came «Let’s Do It Again», in the year 2013, which follows the same paths explored in the debut and lines up a series of thrilling tracks, starting with «Teenage Rebel» and «Hey Hey» up to that «Wild Tiger Woman» which in recent years makes me shrug off those who label me as a chav and a bad example not to be imitated.

Another album to jealously keep, for those who love certain sounds, another unexpected public success, more recognition: Giuda tour a lot and play alongside the most varied bands, from Napalm Death to ZZ Top.

«Speaks Evil» doesn’t let go.

It's evident from the start, from that «Roll The Balls» which, with undiminished power, maintains its position and «Mama Got The Blues» and «Working Class Man» consolidate it; and then it pushes for the conquest of new territories bordering on the most energetic pop'n'roll, because otherwise, what can be said about «Bad Days Are Back», «It Ain’t Easy» and «You Can Do Everything».

Passion, emotion, fun: «Speaks Evil» has everything needed to make a great rock'n'roll record.

Then, Giuda may or may not be to your taste, but they certainly don't leave anyone indifferent.

And no one should think of dismissing them by simply labeling them as chavs.