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Rating: There is something new in the air. It's not the usual "INDIE" rock, pop, folk music, or whatever else you can think of, nor is it something we will one day hear at the FestivalBar (thankfully) or sing at the top of our lungs in a large stadium like San Siro... but it's something new, fresh, different... could it be the smell of meat on the grill?! Well, that might not exactly be the scent in "Save My Sweater from Moths" by Mr. Brace, but I assure you it's equally inviting. Cheerful music, but not too much, ironically introspective, an offbeat country-folk that's, in its own way, right, blending with snippets of pseudojazz, low-fi pop, jingles, keyboards, acoustic guitars, and a drum that's not too tight, almost unsure of itself, but there when needed, delivering a stronger beat when it wants to.
But who is Il Brace and who are Mr. Brace? Il Brace is briefly described as "a gentleman of indeterminate age living in almost complete isolation in the Riccione countryside near the Rio Melo waterfalls and who, while cultivating plastic bottles and smoking cigarettes, reflects on proverbs and sayings of the farming tradition, blending and confusing them, interpreting them and giving them new illuminating meanings", a man with a vast musical background: Pixies, Weezer, Sparklehorse, Hank Williams, Tom Waits. Mr. Brace, on the other hand, is a group formed in 2003 consisting of Il Brace (vocals and acoustic guitar), Lompa (electric guitar), Alice (piano), Fi-Low (drums), and Psico (percussion and various objects).
"Save My Sweater from Moths" should be listened to more than once, it's not the usual throwaway album. "But what fish to catch is an unresolved mystery..." is what you'll find yourself humming after the first few listens of "Ruggine", the album's second track, which has a decidedly country atmosphere driven by acoustic guitar (one of the key elements) and some percussive/playful tricks. With "Salame & Caffè", Mr. Brace explores some jazz aspects in their own way, and the trumpet made exclusively with the mouth proves to be surprisingly effective and especially inexpensive. In "Yesterday", the ballad of the entire work, our heroes sing the end of a love story supported by a convincing and sometimes frenetic mix of guitars, piano, and drums, while in "Ossa", one of my favorite tracks, it will be a bit like listening and perhaps imagining the Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti playing a whirlwind Italian country folk. The album ends beautifully with "Casiotone (Saturday Afternoon at the Flea Market)", zero lyrics but just the classic beat of the legendary Casio Tone looped and accompanied by a poignant acoustic guitar. Amateur music for special people!
Luckily, the indie scene (or independent, as you prefer) isn't only populated by coolly dressed youngsters imitating old rock-punk new wave bands but also by people like Mr. Brace who, with their few instruments and their imagination, managed to put together a valid album, outside the trends of the moment, maybe not brilliant but certainly a nice independent CD and, in my opinion, creative and enjoyable just the right amount. Three stars so they don't get too big-headed, even though it doesn't seem like that's their intention...
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