Psychosun
Silly Things

"With all due respect to Negramaro..." signed My Fragile Ears.

The Psychosun are a band from Salento, whose debut album dates back to 1997 ("Ever Ready" - Magenta Records). "Silly Things" (Urtovox) is their latest effort, and the band's sound seems to have definitively consolidated, despite labels closing, gallons of beer, lyrics first written in English, then in Italian, then back to English, etcetera. Let's be clear right away that the rock contained in "Silly Things" has the faintest claim yet it entertains, stirs up ghosts in the air, and cheers you up.

Three chords, four and a half when it goes well, for a sound that is simultaneously noisy and pop, often alluding to the United States for better or worse. For better because sometimes it brings out sounds that, beneath the sugary melody, hide the clues of that wave that made Seattle great in the early nineties. For worse because certain punk episodes ("Change My Time," a title for all) would have been better left to Green Day and their ties. The "vintage" influences of Television, Velvet Underground, and Stooges are evident, but they are not enough to fully convince the listener. Once you listen to the first part of the album, you already understand how the second will be, with no room for mistakes. Garage riffs and distortions, lots of "Yeaaah," and a voice that would probably suit perfectly a band with a sharp, more British and less powerful sound (the first that come to mind are the Rakes, but the list would currently be literally infinite).

The acoustic and relaxing moments of the production are quite boring, which is why the most enjoyable part of the album is represented by those episodes where Stefano Todisco (a bit like Tom Verlaine here known as Tobia Lamare) seems almost like the delirious Frank Black of River Euphrates, and the feedbacks are those of your goofy friends who, before disbanding, practiced on Saturday afternoons with the dream of touring some country and becoming famous by playing and drinking like crazy snakes. Well, Psychosun has been doing that for some years now, and it seems they are having a blast.