I fichissimi
Un mondo fichissimo

''…We, the Fichissimi, will not play today and will not play anymore. If you're only interested in punk music, you can watch MTV, buy records at Rock & Folk or Zapping, and shell out thirty thousand lire for the punk band in concert. You don't need us, and in fact, we don't want you. The Fichissimi weren't here to bring their message to as many people as possible. They weren't here to entertain anyone; we're not prophets nor musicians. [...] The Fichissimi no longer want to create products to be peddled by informers and alternative music magazines. Too many of you bought our record like any other product, without realizing it wasn't meant to be and shouldn't have been a product. There were even those who, at the end of concerts, asked us for autographs, asked if they could have a used pick from us, or a piece of paper with a setlist on it (relics? I'm speechless). There were those who sold the first pressing of our 7" for twenty bucks to some collector. There were those who were surprised when we told them that we wouldn't play at Rototom, Dracma, and alternative discos, even if the entrance would have cost five thousand like at a squat. [...] Next time, go to the Leoncavallo or the Gabrio; the beer is cheap there too. Tonight you didn't have fun, you didn't spend the few moments of freedom you had as you wanted, you wasted your free time. And tomorrow we'll all return to our shitty lives. Sad, isn't it?''

It's practically impossible to talk about the Fichissimi without mentioning the famous statement with which they announced their withdrawal from the scene, after just three years of intense activity. In fact, the review could well have started and ended with their own words, without adding anything else, because the soul of the Fichissimi, their philosophy, and more generally the purest and most untainted spirit of punk as a whole, is all found in the lines above.
The greatness of "Un mondo fichissimo" needs to be contextualized in the period it was released. It's 1994, the year of the explosion of commercial pop rock that dares to call itself punk, so powerful that from then until today, the majority associates that word with Green Day and co. Meanwhile, in Turin, the once glorious Scene is in full decline. Nerorgasmo reformed and split again just the year before; Negazione quit two years earlier; Peggio Punx, Franti, Indigesti, Stinky Rats are a distant memory; Kina were holding on but no longer biting as before; and as for the new blood, Arturo and Frammenti were still unripe at the time. In this context, it would have been too easy to sound the death knell for the genre once again, go with the flow, accept punk on MTV and in clubs, and sell out for the kids. But no.

Because the Fichissimi were pure. Purest punk in intent as in music, raw, basic, and irresistible. "Un mondo fichissimo" contains six tracks, five originals plus the famous irreverent cover of Pappalardo's "Ricominciamo," but it was later expanded to include the group's entire discography (a few other things, a demo, and a couple of compilation contributions). In total a dozen pieces, all of which became classics. The material itself, even taken out of context, is pure gold: superb Ramones-school punk declaimed in Queers/Screeching Weasel style, seasoned with lyrics of rare effectiveness, far from rhetoric and clichés: the discomfort of Lisa non se ne andrà, the sharp irony of Gianni è un metallaro, teenage loves in Come un tonno and La tipa della casa occupata are simply unforgettable. The exuberance is an end in itself only in the concluding Mi alleno contro il muro; in the other songs, it is merely a vehicle for more adult stories and concepts, never banal. Among the bonus tracks, at least the wonderful mockery of Noi facciamo solo cover should be noted, once again denouncing the commodification of music at the expense of content.
When it comes to integrity, the first name that comes to mind is Fugazi, who never sold out, but I believe the Torinese should be remembered with equal respect, because they were two sides of the same attitude: Fugazi carried on for years without giving in, while the Fichissimi preferred to commit artistic suicide as soon as they sniffed out any hint of success, and the subsequent danger of commercialization. In their short time, however, they managed to leave us with a true milestone.