9:32 AM
Captured, in front of the TV, by the bass lines and lyrics of
Zeta Reticoli, I leave the house, almost in my pajamas, and head to the first
record store.
1)Cute salesgirl: “The Mega what?? Boh, one moment while I check…mmmh No! Sorry”
Ok, it’s routine.
I head towards the center.
2)Usual mustached shopkeeper: “The Megalomani! Ha ha, I knew it, only you
would come to get them. There’s only one copy.
Here it is. Merry Christmas.”
Recommended price 13 Euros: First point in favor of the
album. Meganoidi 1 Other Christmas stuff 0.
As the last page of the booklet states, the album was conceived and
produced by Meganoidi for their emerging label Green Fog
Records, recorded at Zerodieci and mixed in Toronto. Venus
distributions.
“Lateral data reported.”
The first single (which didn’t quite convince me at first)
“For Those Who Lie Awake”, fully reflects the new anger and the
new sound ideas of the group.
“Outside The Loop” differentiates itself from the first album of the mischievous
anti-Daitarn3 for some details, which I liked: more raw rock, more English,
more refined sound and maybe ready for export, since
there’s no room for cats at home (only for Tiziano
Ferro).
Ska-core is the starting
point, there are still brass instruments (trumpet, sax) but
this time the band has decided to combine their melodic writing with
a very essential and angry new-generation rock, without
neglecting their older musical passions.
In short, they’ve surely enjoyed the Strokes and the like in the
last 2 years.
Indeed, it is precisely on this new and evolved way of playing,
compared to their debut, of instruments such as drums and guitar, that the
new product is based, also full of punk (mainly Rancid-Nofx) broken by trumpet solos
that make the sound of
Meganoidi unique and unmistakable (winking at the great Madness).
Screams against films and commercial
productions, ex-girlfriends returning to cause trouble, and between the lines, always an
attack on current politics.
Aggressive riffs, more distortions, everything becomes less soft.
Nice.
Melody/ stop/ count to four quickly/ rock’n’roll-punk/ ska/
and so forth…
The only thing stopping me from giving it a 5/5 is the fact that the song structure is very
similar throughout all twelve tracks, so after listening
to the album you don’t feel like playing it all over again, but it is
definitely a great album and it deserved a bit more
success, especially in live tours.
Having plenty of such bands in Italy, not just for the sound
but for the mentality, would finally mean a turning point.