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Rating: The OFLAGA DISCO PAX. They come from Cavriago, “a small town on the outskirts of Reggio Emilia” and they tell us that unity still has strength, that nothing is lost even if “they have taken everything from us,” even if multinationals have planted their brands in the terrible yet dignified history of Eastern European countries.
A militant record by Offlaga, yet full of dreamy hints and delicate moments, as sharp as only sweet memories can be because they are stored in an area of our mind directly connected to the heart, a memory that is shared past and therefore still touching. The opening is suspended on major 7th chords on which the bass and guitar build an open sound space that distances but does not close the human story of the student and Kappler the agronomy professor so nicknamed “given the attire and style”. The singing is replaced by a recitative reminiscent of Massimo Volume but which is above all a nostalgic and ironic distance, the drum machine is a technological relic that seems like a telegraph in perpetual S.O.S. Enver and Robespierre (the seventh track) seem to be the only “songs” on the record; where the voice modulates, sometimes softens or shouts, but the whole work is supported by a constant ideological misunderstanding which is the result of political passion reacting with the present. Just like in "Khmer Rossa" where the Italian is overlapped by a female Slavic-sounding voice marking the gap within the same worldview. The central part perhaps offers the highest moments, with “Cinnamon,” a revisitation of history through the tastes of chewing gum, “Tono Metallico Standard” which prunes the snobbery of certain so-called alternatives, and Tatranky, a painful realization of the end of the socialist utopia. “Piccola Petroburgo” already contains in the title the spirit of the group, as it talks about Cavriago, and “de Fonseca” brings back to the minimalist dictate of everyday life as a place of poignant epiphanies.
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Other reviews
By sodo_caustico
One of those albums that makes you look to the future with optimism.
Recommended: for those who feel like spending a day cruising around in the car, whistling with the arm out the window.
By antimo_d
The OfflagaDiscoPax tell stories from the great cold post-Cold War and the fall of communism... with just the right amount of sarcasm and irony that are evidently essential for survival.
Where the contrasts work well they are fantastic: for example, in the dreamy guitars that support 'Kappler' (MASTERPIECE), realistic lyrics but an atmosphere of abandonment that suggests the protagonist’s letting go after retirement.
By Dune Buggy
The essentially original feature of their music lies in combining electro, new wave music, sometimes kraut, with lyrics that are not sung but rather recited.
The listening of these ‘technical tests of transmission’ is first of all advisable in small doses, paying attention to the lyrics, to the stories, more than to the melodic cues.
By expresuntuoso
This is a CD that is COMMERCE. It is based on the basic principles of marketing: finding a target audience being appealing even to a range of people close to this target (or even, as in the case of this CD, creating one from scratch).
The main merit of this CD is having created a timeless bubble, a cosmic black hole to dive into without risking molecular disintegration.
By DanteCruciani
Their lyrics energetically express their point of view, with autobiographical and sarcastic hints.
Offlaga Disco Pax struck me quite a bit: rather simple formulas applied to a good dose of inventiveness and courage.
