Johann Sebastian Punk
More Lovely and More Temperate

The holidays are over. The girl dumped because it's time to start working again. The (chilly) summer afternoons spent playing the Cajon on the street are now a hazy memory. 
What resumes, however, are my independent emerging reviews of emerging groups/artists from the independent, emerging scene. Independent.

Johann Sebastian Punk. More Lovely and More Temperate, an album announced at the end of April 2014 under the Irma Records/SRI Production label.
I'm at the Arteria, a small underground venue in the heart of Bologna, following the performance of a duo of friends, Lorenzo on guitar, Lavinia on vocals. Among others, there are these Johann Sebastian Punk. Tightly clenched smiles, but strange, never heard of them. And to say that I kind of love bands with strange names. 
After my friends' performance, here's this mysterious group. "Eh oh, the singer is so hyped, damn it." Then another song. "Well they are good." I silently follow the concert to the end. I stay silent, immobile. I dart to buy the CD. It's cheap. I compliment the singer and the rest of the band, say goodbye, and return to my friends. I liked them, surprisingly.
Then I listen to the album calmly and understand what I liked so much. Nihilism, total anarchy.

The album opens with a classic symphonic crescendo, post-orchestral tuning, and here they start messing with us with a fictional title Exit opening the LP. Projected at the speed of light towards the group’s true sounds, here comes Vernal Equinox. And darkness starts to be perceived. Melancholic sax, light string incursions playing in pan, and a subdued voice that is pleasant to listen to, around the 4-minute mark everything turns electronic with a Massive Attack-like bass that (pardon the pun) attacks over a very Commercial New Wave drum. It all closes with a distorted guitar and a similar cacophony of high-pitched brass notes, gently accompanied by a piano.
Well a worthy start but will they manage to maintain the feeli...
No time. Jesus Crust Baked is already on. The title alone and the keyboard attack with organ would be enough to silence me. Vocally more anonymous but accompanied by original musical solutions, it moves more and more towards light but dark Post Rock. And symphonic. But here's one of those playful choruses that makes you feel fooled again. Certainty comes when you perceive in the lyrics a rather explicit quote "You know, girls just wanna have fun" and underneath that keyboard replicating Cindy Lauper’s success in a bridge-like manner. Once again electronics come in and mess everything up. Filters and distortions like there’s no tomorrow. As you can easily guess, the text is provocative and irreverent, obvious.
Yes, I Miss The Ramones is disappointing, however, because in trying to shift their sound towards that of the mentioned group, they lose a lot, deluding themselves into believing they can remain anchored to that symphonic romanticism that fits together as well as Nutella on a Florentine steak. But then the following Barber's Shop is almost barbecue sauce and indeed manages to create a very Tim Burton golden era mood. Considered the best by many fans.
A brief symphonic interlude that is a joy to the ears also because seasoned with an almost growled drop and eerie voices. Then it accelerates and we find ourselves in a 17th-century fresco that is repeatedly contaminated by bizarre raw saws and countertimes. These guys are crazy, really.
Intermezzo. Yes, you guessed it, this too is taking the mickey.
The Well-Shorn Moufflon Paradox, oh my God, no, it almost feels like listening to the worst Coldplay playing Clash-style trying to imitate something else Blink-182 style. Okay, it has a catchy and fitting chorus. I skip it every time.
White. This is the track responsible for my morbid attachment to the band. It must be said that these guys perform live always very exaggeratedly and playfully, but here almost descends on the stage a funereal atmosphere. Dark, sinister, gloomy psychedelia. Delicate and impalpable guitars, an electric drum that comes straight out of New Wave, the voice, though not exceptionally, does its best, also seasoned with choruses and effects, an omnipresent and very long keyboard. An incredible whine. Something that seems to have come out in '90. Pure love, in short. Then distortions. Avalanches of distortions. Disturbing. Make them stop. Let them stay. Let them play it again.
Rainy Spell and Strontium unfortunately suffer from the vice of coming right after the noize-style piece. The first is also beautiful, with the right breaks and melody that grips you. Cute space rock incursions that make me miss the underrated Rockets. The second is a return to electronics and frankly "hooray!". Once again, they show that this multifaceted musical personality of theirs bears good fruit, and perhaps the more Wave path would be the preferable one. Then indie rock riffs of completely Italian origin and again rarefied atmospheres. There's even room for a very bluesy break that has nothing to do with anything. And then what? Salsa-Latin? What a mess. Very very neat.
Enter to close nicely, very different from the previous atmospheres, a bit more playful, a bit more like Radiohead of Kid A in the early parts, almost Oldfield towards the end.

But in the end, what genre do these guys play? Dunno. I don't know what else to tell you other than to listen to it. It's one of those things you don't know is worth it until you hear it. 
Oh, and to conclude... Do you know what they did at the end of the concert? Wore Mozart wigs and each interpreted a classical piece in punk version with their instruments. Pure enjoyment on Also Sprach Zarathustra turned Ska. Crazy or genius.

Seven and a half out of 10. But it becomes eight if, like me, you love it when LPs mess with you and you leave saying, "wooo, I don't know what the heck I listened to, but I liked it.”