Scarling.
So Long, Scarecrow.

The Scarling. (the band's name includes a terminal period.) is a Los Angeles band with music that's hard to categorize as it encompasses influences from various genres. They were born from the ashes of what was a well-known formation during the '90s in the US post-grunge alternative music circuit, namely the Jack Off Jill, who engaged in harsh and violent sounds of punk derivation with hype and an imagery linked to the subculture of Riot Grrrl and Foxcore.

Singer Jessicka Fodera is the founder, along with guitarist Christian Hejnal, of Scarling. who began their activity in 1999 but only in 2002 did they start gaining interest from the public. Later, following the release of their first album "Heart Sweet Dealer" in 2004, they also received significant attention from music critics, who defined their style as "New-Gaze," a reinterpretation of what was the Shoegaze movement in the '90s with bands like My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Cocteau Twins (the Cocteau Twins of "Milk And Kisses"), Galaxie 500, Smashing Pumpkins (of Siamese Dreams), Ride, etc. The Shoegaze genre envisioned a massive use of guitar feedback, reverb, echoes, distortions, a hypnotic rhythm, a pursuit of sonic stability that could be repeated throughout the performance, much like psychedelia. Indeed, these ingredients are present in Scarling.

But after a simple listen to their 2005 album "So Long, Scarecrow," the presence of dark wave (Cure, Chameleons) noise (Sonic Youth, Blonde Redhead) garage (Pixies) grunge (Hole) glam pop (Placebo, Suede) influences immediately emerges. There's something of the old Garbage, something of the grandiose Boris, with a consistent attention to catchy melodies and quickly engaging choruses for the listener.

In short, they don't invent anything.

A postmodern melting pot like so many around, one might say. With, in addition, the traits, and the alibi, of a revival of something. A classic.

What differentiates Scarling. from the countless shapeless and boring bands that have crowded the pages of MySpace for at least ten years, enveloping themselves in hundreds of ambiguous and meticulously crafted photographs taken by state-of-the-art digital cameras and artfully manipulated to make up for the lack of any appeal in their music?

What differentiates Scarling. is essentially the ability to create truly suggestive atmospheres. The inspiration. And a significant interest in music. Nowadays, it is not a given that bands of musicians are interested in music. So, it's a merit to be attributed.

Their music evokes images of rainy afternoons, small crepuscular portraits of past emotions, sad parties, bittersweet moments, poignant like the passage of time. They can be moving.

It is a celebration, neither ambitious nor redundant, of adolescence, of early youth, with references in the lyrics (with some brilliant phrases) to the more painful sides of it. Disillusionment. Loneliness. Incommunicability. Anger.

The tracklist seems to have been arranged in an ascending order concerning the emotional value of the songs, from the least intense, descending or ascending towards the peak, namely the last song, the splendid romantic ballad that gives the album its title: "So Long, Scarecrow", a true gem of the record. A soft and heartfelt lullaby of farewell (what did you expect?/kindness for the tread neglect), unique amidst the rivers of sizzling electric music of the others.

The album opens with "Hello London", featuring a guitar that detonates only to soften immediately and make way for Jessicka's alluring voice, a martial cadence throughout the verse, until reaching the open and saturated-with-ascending-electricity chorus. The structure of the second track, "City Noise", is the same, but compared to the previous one, it reveals greater drama, secondary voices that appear, an effect that combines guitar and drums into something like a machine gun burst. Interesting.

Pressing stop-and-go like the Pixies divide "Manorexic" (If I wrap him up in plastic, I'll save the part he'll never use) into fragments, over a rolling base, with the ballad "In The Pretend World" (in the real world/there's no goodbye) it feels like being enveloped inside a circular phosphorescent fog, and between guitar and drums keyboards appear, "Bummer" is a small stylistic drop, too anonymous and indifferent.

There's also room for two carefree songs, "We Are Music Maker" an expression of joy at the idea of being musicians and "Like A Killer" with almost power-pop hints, fast and enjoyable.

A shadowy ballad is "(Northbound On) Cahuenga", echoing some landscapes developed by Sonic Youth in Confusion Is Sex; a tremulous guitar riff supports "Caribou And Cake", an ironic horror nursery rhyme.

Three stars.