Uzeda
Out of Colours

Away with the pseudo-alternatives from our home. Well yes, Uzeda are actually Italian, and when you listen to this record for the first time, perhaps learning from some web page of their origins, you'll exactly say "Wow!"

Of course, only four people know them, maybe even a few family members, despite having managed over time to carve out a small, and at least necessary, niche in the Italian music scene. Ah, right, they were also known by a certain Steve Albini who, after listening to them, did not hesitate to accept their proposal to have him record them, the producer of "Surfer Rosa," "Rid of Me," "Tweez," or the much-praised "In Utero," just to name a few. The one who was already the guitarist of Shellac, to be clear, and with whom a friendship was born that allowed the band to work in his company even later.

However, we need to take a step back when Albini had nothing to do with Uzeda yet, and among the mentioned, had produced "only" the masterpiece of the Pixies.

I was talking about the surprising Italian origin of the five unknowns who actually were, in all probability, the true pioneers of national noise-rock (often also cataloged as a math-rock band). Who would have ever thought?

But let's make this leap.

A few years before the meeting with Albini, Uzeda's first LP, "Out of Colours," was released.

The record does not yet present the noise ferocity that will later characterize the band's sound, although it's already in the air and, in some moments, almost tangible. It turns out to be quite an original mix of post-punk and alternative rock - although different from what the alternative movement in Italy (Afterhours) was producing at the time, and we're in 1989 - strongly influenced by the new wave. The new wave of early Siouxsie or U2.
"Big Face," a closing track that perhaps vaguely recalls "Spellbound," is the most concrete testimony to the blend of these influences. The cited likenesses are there, but they are not able to summarize the entire content of the album, which manages to easily maintain its own identity developed from a strong assimilation of the '80s.

The female voice that introduces us to the record is that of Giovanna Cacciola. One of those voices, often à la Kim Gordon and gladly à la Siouxsie, which perhaps due to the contrast with the distortions and new wave sounds or who knows what, manage to confer greater charm in this context.
Then the guitars of Nicosia and Tilotta, protagonists of the sound landscape on which Cacciola's voice dances, which rarely try to mimic Moore and Ranaldo and are excellently supported by Gulisano and Olivieri, respectively on bass and drums, painting the atmosphere in their image and likeness.

Among the best moments, I would point out the post-punk, sustained by the egocentrism of the guitars, of the opener "Hallucinated Games"; the dark "Goddamn Thoughts," which changes color in the chorus; the playful verses of "Angel," enhanced by the preponderance of rhythm, of the guitars; the airy soundscape of "Happy Birthday"; the "evolian" "Between the Lines"; the evocative "Little Bird"; the dreamy "Silent Bay," and the aforementioned "Big Face."
In short, there are many valuable tracks that contribute to making the album of good quality.
However, it must be said that (maybe?) this is not their best album and probably suffers a bit from production. But it turns out to be a decidedly acceptable record, especially considering some emblematic aspects:

• it is a debut album;
  
• self-produced;
  
• stuff that we'll hardly have the chance to listen to again from a "rock" band made in Italy.

What can I say? A round of applause to Uzeda.