The Mugshots
Something Weird

This is indeed a curious and engaging project from the Italians Mugshots published by the ever-attentive Black Widow: their music is presented to us under the label “Theatrical Rock Music”. Listening to the album, one cannot help but notice that this definition is not actually out of place. In fact, the title of the album Something Weird already introduces us to the atmospheres we are about to listen to: “weird,” in the sense of bizarre, strange, and engaging is the most fitting term I can think of to label the music of the Mugshots. I can definitely sense the energy of the punk of the Ramones and the Gun Club and the old '60s garage-punk. But in reality, the music is marked by the most unbridled eclecticism, so we can hear space-rock, prog, and gothic-rock environments without ever losing cohesion. Very surprising is the presence of the guests: we indeed find charismatic figures like Steve Sylvester, Tony ‘Demolition Man’ Dolan, Freddy Delirio along with Enrico Ruggeri! The famous singer lends his voice in “Sentymento,” a very gothic-metal track. Elsewhere, the atmospheres are less dark and veer towards psychedelia, as in the overwhelming “The Circus.” The ubiquitous keyboards manage to give a prog touch even in decidedly rock and intense tracks like “Rain” and the horrific “I Am An Eye,” characterized by the grandiloquent and dark keyboards of Freddy Delirio. Also noteworthy is the very energetic “Ophis,” played in the vein of the most energetic punk but interspersed with calmer and atmospheric moments close to prog. In summary, Something Weird turns out to be an excellent album, very engaging, which I highly recommend to lovers of gothic-rock, metal, and psychedelia.