Polvere Di Pinguino
Stand By The Dream

Among the many bands belonging to the Italian scene of the '80s revival of '60s-inspired sounds, the Polvere di Pinguino from Carrara should not be forgotten. At the time, journalists tended to get a bit confused to the point where Sick Rose were labeled as psychedelic. In retrospect, there wasn't much psychedelic about them: I just remember the great No Strange, the Effervescent Elephants, the Birdmen Of Alkatraz, and the Steeplejack, the Technicolour Dream, the Magic Potion, and the often unmentioned Leanan Sidhe. Also worth remembering are the Kryptästhesie, who, however, acted a bit too late. The Polvere di Pinguino were instead a garage band that sounded less derivative and calligraphic than many of their peers.

The sound of Polvere di Pinguino was fundamentally a gutsy rock that paid tribute to historic bands from the '60s and early '70s like the Rolling Stones, The Who, and The Stooges, without forgetting the lessons of bands that were temporally closer or even contemporary, such as Gun Club, The Clash, X, and Hoodo Gurus. The result was an abrasive and compact rock that found its first discographic documentation in their debut single containing the tracks "Open My Hands" and "Alabama Song" (a rendition of the Doors cover in an explosive manner). In 1988, they released an LP, well-received by the specialist press, for Cobra Records and subsequently, the EP Electric Tribe, which confirmed their good levels. In 1992, their second album entitled Leggi e allucinazioni was released for Mellow Records in Sanremo, a choice that, in hindsight, I find quite curious since it was a label always devoted to progressive rock (and therefore very distant from their style), although it had given ample space to the psychedelic Effervescent Elephants and Lodovico Ellena. That very same year, the group disbanded.

Now, the mythical Pisa-based label Area Pirata releases a sort of anthology CD entitled Stand By The Dream, which showcases the more immediate and gutsy side of the band, not mediated by the recording studio. We can listen to the first and already mentioned single, which confirms, over time, all its disruptive power. We then find the demo versions recorded in 1987 of tracks that later appeared on the first album except for "Trash it, Baby!". This track was indeed previously unreleased. The same applies to the subsequent 1989 demo, which, in practice, also presents the first versions of the 1992 Mellow album except for "Back To Zero," another juicy unreleased track. But the highlight of this CD, in my opinion, are the 4 final tracks from a live concert recorded at the historic CSOA Kronstadt in La Spezia. The live setting was undoubtedly their most congenial dimension where they could unleash all their iconoclastic power. The cover "I Wanna Be Your Dog" by the Stooges is simply spine-chilling and is played with devastating energy.

What to say at the end of this listening session? Another little piece of culture has finally been lifted from oblivion. This CD is necessary as it brings the Polvere di Pinguino back into conversation, and in these dark times, there's definitely a need, every now and then, to listen to some more of that unhealthy rock'n'roll. Available on Bandcamp: https://areapiratarec.bandcamp.com/album/stand-by-the-dream.