Underground Life
Questo soave sabba

“When they started playing, it was 1977; both Italy and the entire world were completely different from what they are today. However, in its profound meaning, both this country and everything in the world, under the eye of history, always resemble themselves.
There were wars, there are wars, the Middle East was on fire, it still is, politics was largely managed by our thing, today it is electorally part of it, and so forth”  (www.liliumproduzioni.com)

Despite the name more likely recalling an English band, Underground Life are one of the most influential Italian rock groups of the '80s led by singer and author Giancarlo Onorato, already a musician, painter, and writer, as well as the founder of the band, born in Monza in 1979. 

By the time of the release of "Questo Soave Sabba" (year 1993), the group already had three important albums (years 80 – 87 and 89) all released through independent labels, but the true work of significance, more complete and appreciated by the critics of the time, was precisely this one, the result of three years of creative work and which required over a year of collaboration with what would become their producer: Alberto Radius, anyway already a guitarist and supporter of the band since 1987.

For the occasion, Lilium Disc, an independent label born in 1990, moved forward, gathering under its wing very young rock formations from all over Europe (in London Rough Trade displayed in the window the Underground Life record with the approximate inscription: “Italian punk rock” and in 1988 they had contacted John Foxx for a collaboration, which then faded away). 

This Soave Sabba is the album recorded in Milan (Studi Radius) that encloses the moment of greatest communication and creativity of the Monza band in terms of quality and content. A “full-bodied” sound, full of energy and rhythm sets the background to introspective and sensual lyrics where the central theme turns out to be the sensations and impulsiveness of human senses in which the “sense” understood as the essence of things is lost. The melody is – for the time – at the avant-garde and the attention is directed to the “cult” as well as to consumption and consumerism typical of the '90s decade. The lyrics are well-crafted and at times almost poetic.

And since the group's languages were not limited to the musical discourse alone, with the first 1000 copies of the CD was gifted a story written by Onorato himself titled “The workshop of moans” which took up and expanded the themes contained within the album. In fact, the story, published in the avant-garde pocket series MILLELIRE by Stampa Alternativa, revisited the theme of the passions of the senses as true protagonists of human existence to which it is necessary to surrender. 

Curiosity: the text is the result of the inner reflections of a girl. The cover portrays a painting by Onorato (as well as that of the CD).

At this point, listening is mandatory, both for those a bit nostalgic who still remember the Italian rock current of those years with some melancholy and for those who are just intrigued, despite a certain obvious sensation of deja vu. 

The album is the last work that completely closes the group's production, realized when the dissolution was already being announced and already charted the idea of Onorato’s imminent solo production.

Finally, my favorite tracks: "Milano malinconica," "Signora dei gigli," "Canzone dell’eterno settembre".