Vegetable G
Epic Mono

I had never heard of Vegetable G before, yet this cover caught my eye with its mix of glamour and reticence: a perfect graphical synthesis of the music offered in this commendable work, 'Epic Mono'.

A hybrid sound, between rock and electronic, with post-divagations and pop openings.

Within the essential packaging, I found some information: Vegetable G is an Italian group despite singing in clean and sober English, and they are just a duo despite the sound being always rich, primarily thanks to the digital interventions that adorn the songs and often drag them into a dance vortex (especially Traffic, which could be a Prodigy b-side heavily influenced by minimalism).

The start is all emotional: Holograms reminds of certain undecided passages between rock and electronic by Radiohead and, while pleasant to listen to, certainly doesn't make one scream in awe. The same can be said of Green Forever, slightly syncopated and very catchy, recalling some eclectic tracks by Blur. The voice of Giorgio Spada however doesn't remind one of Thom Yorke or Damon Albarn: rather, it evokes great dark and baritone rock voices, paying tribute to artists such as Morrissey, Morrison, Bowie, and the Ink King. The latter hovers as a constant presence in the atmosphere of certain tracks: the beautiful and misty Dreamkeeper seems like a slow blues of the Bad Seeds drowned in glitch, or the elegiac and at times restless Rainy Rooms.

Sometimes the sound swells and becomes confused, almost evanescent shoegazer. Rarely does the electronics dominate the rest, but it remains wisely in the background, enriching with intelligence compositions already excellent: whether they refer to a certain decadence of the Smiths, recall the dark downtempo of La Crus, or hint at the expanded melodic-emotional openings of Giardini Di Mirò. It's always a pleasure to listen to, even the frenetic remix of Holograms convinces.