Hitler SS - Tampax
Split 7"

THE REVIEW

"...One, two, three, four, five, six, seven... Seventyseven!!".

The notes on the cover (!) are clear: "Recorded in Avf Studio from 5.30 pm to 5.45 pm (December 30, 1978)". December 30, 1978, a historic date for Italian music: for the first time, we too were sticking our noses into Punk 77, the real, dirty, and angry kind.

And truly filthy and angry were the 'Hitler SS' (no, they are not Nazis) by Miss Xox, who entrusted the first side of the split with it. Irreverent and crazy enough ("ein, zwei, drei... banzaiii!!") they start with "Slave": pure punk played fast and badly, very badly, but with a catchy rhythm and a voice (male despite the name) dirty and shouted in pure British style. Not bad also their other two songs "Punk Is Dead" and "No Solution", which at times remind us of Crass, but the best is yet to come on the other side (which, it must be said, in the vinyl version spins at a different speed from the first: one at 33 and the other at 45 rpm).

Here come the 'Tampax', whose lineup I ignore, first with an irresistible "(Tampax) In the cunt", then with an absolute masterpiece, a song that if it had been written by Johnny Rotten, it would be revered like a relic, "Ufo Dictator". Three broken minutes of pure sonic madness with a guitar imitating space sounds (remember the laser beams from the Meganoids of Mazinga?), and a voice that being called assaulted is an understatement.

Forgotten, unknown, but a small classic of our national discography, highly appreciated abroad. Look for it and good luck...