Skiantos
MONOtono

"But who the hell cares! Genre guys genre! Hey dude, drop the bike and let's watch TV. You're so stoned, you're as stoned as a tire. Shall we do it? Dudes, I'm freaking out! Ok, ok no problem guys, no problem! Dudes, I'm freaking out. Let's get going, let's get going. Do you have any crap? What kind of trip are you on?! You have a giant banana. Oh do you have any crap or not? A booger! What kind of trip are you on? Tripped out. Bad story guys, bad story. I've got stories guys, I've got heavy stories! Do you have any chicks handy? No, I've got heavy stories, check this rhyme: 1 2 6 9"

The review could easily end with this dialogue between guys in a hypothetical Bolognese slang, a necessary prelude to "Eptadone," one of the most irreverent tracks Italian punk-rock has ever produced. But to pass on meanings, especially to those present, not just to posterity, to understand at least in part, what was an unrepeatable period of creativity, necessary expressive arrogance, and disregard for standards, we must start from MONOtono by the Skiantos, the second album of the most irreverent Italian band of all times (apologies to the virtuous but always brilliant Elio & company). As it has been repeated ad nauseam, punk reset everything. Those who couldn't play could easily do so, in a melting pot where the main source was the expressivity and soul of those who played. The Skiantos wanted to "fart" against committed singer-songwriters, against lyrical propriety, using deliberately low language, using paired rhymes, and introducing the concept of "Demenziale," a sort of non-sense idiocy that sometimes managed to be more incisive and biting than many serious songs. They couldn't have chosen a better era to do it; Bologna in the late '70s: the student movement, Radio Alice, the Red Brigades, the DAMS, and all the cultural-stylistic ferment caused by political-social upheavals, and the importation of punk aesthetics and no-future from the main producers; USA and England. It is Gianni Sassi's Cramps that allows Freak Antoni's collective (graduated from DAMS with a thesis on the Beatles) to publish their official debut, after the warm-up of "Inascoltabile."

After the impact of the punk explosion of "Eptadone", the rest is simply pure rock n' roll with blues influences and punk attitude in the rhythms. Italianized Ramones with an eye on the Rolling Stones, the latter covered with "Pesto Duro". Countless anthems, the manifesto of "Largo All'Avanguardia" (Largo all'avanguardia, siete un pubblico di merda, applaudite per inerzia), the speech of "Diventa Demente" against the committed singer-songwriter genre, the unsettling and obsessive rhythmic suite of "Io Sono Uno Skianto", the punkish "Io Me La Meno" (Io me la meno, di notte mi dimeno, domani prendo il treno e vado fino a Sanremo), up to the terrorist chronicle of "Panka Rock" (se tu bruci una banca, il direttore poi si sbianca, lì in testa anche una panka, e vedrai che poi la pianta!).

Reissued by Laltantide, after the 1978 vinyl, this record is not recommended for those who think music should be taken too seriously, but those who love to be intelligent in Italy (with taste) cannot overlook the Skiantos.