Gronge
A Claudio Villa (Original Sound)

VOTE GRONGE! I wouldn't think twice...

"A Claudio Villa (Original Sound)" (1991), this third LP by the Roman ensemble continues the path already started with "Fase di rigetto" (1986). In my opinion, it's a little gem of our local underground scene.

The album opens with the title track; an industrial tribute cover of "La luna nel Rio" by fellow countryman Claudio Villa, screams and pulsing drum machines blend with the light choruses of the original (sound). Violins, wheezing, screams, guitars, and keyboards à la Public Image Ltd. continue the journey in "Città assediata". The lengthy "Crepusque" (over 14 minutes) is a breathless ride, almost prog, I dare say, that stops and then starts again, with percussion worthy of the best industrial and samples from who knows what film. But we are not at sunset yet... "Profezia" (see "Città assediata") is pure post-punk! "Ritual" and "La rivolta degli intestini" are nothing but a worthy continuation of "Crepusque." The album closes with the fantastic "Vita di un frullatore", probably the track that comes closest to a conventional song structure; it is the dramatic story of a blender being thrown away, from which all the discomfort, soul, and plastic and steel spirit of this "group" shines through.

What can I say... find this album if you can... it won't be easy... and once you've found it, listen to it, love it, and then go out and show off to everyone who doesn't know them.

An all too often forgotten reality, that of Gronge, unfortunately!

"I am a fruit-squeezing puppet, I am a glass head, and your face, with admiration, I see smiling as you put me back in the drawer! The dark clouds surprise me, while among a heap of garbage I manage to see myself reflected in a puddle and I'm still not half bad!"

Here are the YouTube links to some tracks 

"A Claudio Villa (Original Sound)"

"Profezia" 

"Vita di un frullatore"