Gran Rivera
Aventador

Go figure ‘these modern artists. People who cite punk and then when you come across one of their albums that is anything but punk, you end up falling in love with it.

The Gran Rivera are skilled storytellers, characters at least with a quick pen and a head full of ideas, capable of creating curiosity and anticipation with press releases that well summarize the mood of a band at least very honest in its intentions. If in the bio the first thing you read is “If you love The National or Editors, if you are looking for a flashy rock to spread among friends as trendy, the Gran Rivera are not for you”, I can simply say that for me they have already won, period.

But who are the Gran Rivera?! A band of thirty-year-olds raised with Nirvana's grunge, old-school punk-rock, but also with abundant doses of rock that have traced the DNA of this strange figure. A handful of musicians who have placed their word in the simplicity of composition, focusing mainly on the form of the songs that in all their naturalness made of “verse/chorus/verse” immediately capture attention. The songs indeed: musically spontaneous and strong of that live recording which today the new generations have no idea what it's about, and full of pathos thanks to a singing style bordering on cheesy in terms of tone.

An album where feelings become contrasting, shifting from the impetuosity of “There where be no miracles here” (the best track of the whole lot), to the spontaneity of “Old’s cool & new,” all leaving you pleasantly impressed. Citing examples is quite difficult. It might be the spring climate, it might be the playful mood of “Aventador,” but what's undeniable is that now and then Italian underground rock still manages to pull out pleasant surprises from the hat, with no intention of following chart trends and working hard to emerge in the most sincere way possible. Well done Gran Rivera, personally among the most interesting and deserving bands of 2014 in the rock scene.