Rusties
Dove osano i rapaci

Two years ago, the Rusties already tried to tackle singing in Italian. That album then ("Dalla polvere e dal fuoco") was a collection of translated tracks from the finest catalog of American songs, those by Warren Zevon, Bruce Cockburn, Neil Young, and so forth.

This time, however, they return with a handful of solid original songs, the album is titled "Dove osano i rapaci" ("Where Eagles Dare"), it was recorded in four days and live in the studio. The songs are virtually live, it's an album that "sounds" from another time, there are no clicks, no samples, and very little technology.

You immediately notice the quality of both the writing and the sound and arrangements of these five musicians from Bergamo. Marco Grompi, who is among the most renowned "neilyoungofili" in Italy, gives space like never before to the pen and voices of all the other members of the group, namely Osvaldo Ardenghi, a solid lead guitarist, Massimo Piccinelli on keyboards, the great Fulvio Monieri (an authentic living legend of Italian rock) on bass, and the very young Filippo Acquaviva (20 years old, one of the best drummers in Lombardy).

The result is a beautiful album, where the quality of the music and the lyrics, almost all focused on social themes, merge perfectly.

"Dove osano i rapaci," which opens the album, is a song that tells the story of these years, how we are living them (rather poorly, I would say) and what is happening in this country.

"Non tornerà" is a song that captures the last twenty years of Italy with a certain sarcasm, and the message of the song is not so much to chronicle things that we have all seen and are recounted with poetic licenses and even rather strong images, but it's the end of the song that these twenty years that were stolen from us, no one will give them back.

"Pezzo di carta" talks about how, at this moment in Italy, merit is never rewarded. Having talent and skills now counts for almost nothing, especially young people are forced to emigrate abroad, only to be recognized as "Italians" when abroad they manage to achieve significant results and recognition.

"Non lontano molto tempo fa" is a piece written and sung by Fulvio Monieri, and it's a beautiful song that remembers a time now irretrievably ended and lost, the era of flower children and imagination in power, where everything seemed rosy and it seemed humanity had awakened. Now one wonders what happened in the meantime and where those values have gone.

"Come planare" is an acoustic track sung by Grompi, while "Una storia per noi" is based on a friend who is no longer there, a victim of "dust," who played bass years ago with Osvaldo (the author of the piece) and is a track somewhat reminiscent of Cream.

"Queste tracce" is a song designed to evolve live into long guitar jams where the "Young-ian" attitude of the Rusties emerges more than in other tracks. It talks about violence against women; Italy is the number one country in the world for femicides, and it remains a tragic social and cultural problem.

The album closes with "Magari un motivo," a piece that talks about incommunicability.

Anyone interested in the album can contact the Rusties directly on their Facebook page, although it can be easily found through the most important distribution channels (such as Amazon) and in the best record stores.