The Piaggio Soul Combination and Lakeetra Knowles - Soultimate

Italians do it better! Fourteen tracks of dancefloor-filling modernism!

 

Happy January folks! It's often said to be the longest, darkest, most miserable of all the months. Especially if you're a meat-eating alcoholic feeling societal pressure to give up the things you love most. (Not a reference to myself I should stress!) None of us should be giving up the joys of new music however, so it's comforting to find that January is offering up some brilliant new releases for us to seek out, listen to, and perhaps even buy.

Top of my listening pile at the moment is this cracking dancefloor filling soul album released by an Italian Mod collective called Piaggio Soul Combination. It's the group's third full-length album following Italian Boogaloo (2017) and This Is The Piaggio Soul Combination (2019) and is released on January 28th. Here in the UK we're inclined to think that the creation of the mod movement is a uniquely British thing. Or maybe just an English thing, centred on London or the south-east. It should be stressed though that the movement soaked up influences from other cultures - American soul, jazz and R&B, Italian scooters and tailoring, and a forward thinking approach to fashion in general, inspired in no small part by that of post-war mainland Europe.

It's fitting then that this album features input from Italy, the UK, and America - The band themselves formed in Pisa, Italy. Featured vocalist Lakeetra Knowles was brought up in Arkansas, USA. And the album's producer is none other than Andy Lewis, a name that will be familiar to fans of Paul Weller, Fay Hallam, and British soul music in general.

Over the course of the album's 14 tracks we journey through Northern soul stompers, latin-flavoured boogaloo, and sophisticated toe-tappers. All very groovy, all infectious and most importantly all very uplifting. Perfect for lifting one's spirits and shifting those damn January blues. It will also make you want to get up and dance. With this in mind the album is available on a very DJ-friendly physical format, a gatefold double 12" 45rpm set. Perfect for spinning at your local vinyl-only all-nighter.

 

The current line-up is: Lakeetra Knowles (lead vocals), Marco Piaggesi (lead & backing vocals, organ, piano, mellotron), Michele Malasoma (drums & timbales), Gio Renzo Baccelli (percussion), Saverio Grasselli (guitar), Michelangelo Pardini (bass), Andrea Milano (alto sax), Manuel Vanni & Cesare Errico (tenor sax), Gaspare Vinto (baritone sax).

The Peawees - Moving Target

Back and blasting! New album from Italy's good-time rock and rollers!

As we enter the season of dark nights and mornings it helps to have a soundtrack that blows away any hint of wintry downbeat sentiments. One record that's been an audible tonic and companion to me recently is Moving Target, the sixth and latest album by Italian quartet The Peawees. The band formed in 1995 and have released a string of albums and 45s mixing garage-rock with old school rock 'n' roll, played with a smile and an innate powerpop sensibility.

All this is evident on the album's opening track - 'Walking Through My Hell' sounds like the best song Elvis Costello never wrote, killer chord changes, impassioned vocals, neat guitar runs, melodic twists and turns, all delivered at a hi-octane tempo. It sets the template and standard for what's to come. Over following nine tracks the band's brand of good-time rock 'n' roll intoxicates and delights in equal measure. This is an album that's sure to lift your spirits. Another highlight is 'Justify', one the album's more laid-back moments, still catchy as hell with a very likeable Nick Lowe/Stiff Records vibe.

Between them, the band members may not own a record made later than 1978 but that's to their (and our) benefit. This is an album that takes its cues from Brill Building songwriting, girl vocal groups, and a string of boys-with-guitars bands ranging from Hamburg-era Beatles to the Flamin' Groovies. Moving Target is released on CD by Rum Bar Records and on vinyl LP by Wild Honey Records. I suggest you get on board.

The Peawees are:-

Hervé Peroncini – Vox/Gutar

Carlo Landino – Guitar

Fabio Clemente – Bass

Tommy Gonzalez - Drums

Click here for The Peawees' website.

Click here for The Peawees on Facebook.

Click here for Rum Bar Records.

Click here for Wild Honey Records.

Interview with Tobia Poltronieri (C+C=Maxigross)

(This feature first appeared in issue 60 of Shindig! magazine. For the full unedited interview click over the jump at the bottom of this post.)

Duncan Fletcher talks with Tobia Poltronieri, founding member of Italian psych-collective C+C=Maxigross, about their new album and self-curated festival.

“Since we were kids we organised illegal parties in the hills, in basements and in the mountains… After many years we decided to do our real thing, Lessinia Psych Fest was born in 2014 in a garden of a friend's house in the mountains. Jennifer Gentle and Miles Cooper Seaton from Akron/Family were the headliners. We met Miles at that festival, he was touring Italy by himself at the time. Now he lives in Verona with us… Just to make you understand that the vibe here is REALLY GOOD!… Finally the festival is growing! Next year you’re invited, and your readers too!”

Anyone craving a unique boutique festival experience is advised to accept this invitation from Tobia Poltronieri, founding member of C+C=Maxigross, an ever mutating collective who organise their own festival each July in the mountains near Verona. The band (whose name is taken from a local cash and carry) have a sound that mixes the organic mushroomy goodness of the early '70s, with the playful wide-eyed wonder of contemporaries such as The Flaming Lips, Devendra Banhart and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Their willingness to experiment and improvise, coupled with state-of-the-art pop production marks them out as standard bearers for 21^st century freak-folk.

Their recently released 2^nd LP Fluttarn is titled in Cimbrian, an arcane local language found only in the Lessinia hills. Fluttarn translates as "to flutter, to fly about or fly away". “For us Lessinia is pure magic and mystery”, say Tobia, “and one of these strange sides is this ancient and almost dead language, “Cimbro”, from the German people who came here in the Middle Ages. Sadly almost nobody’s talking in this language today.”

The language may be in danger but the beauty of their homeland remains a more permanent inspiration - “Only people from Verona go there… sad cos it's definitely worth a look! These mountains are amazing, gentle pre-Alps, wonderful and magic! This place has been the shelter for our relaxation and creativity, where to go when we want to escape the city and its hustle and bustle. With our label, Vaggimal records, we started to record other bands in our studio in the mountains, we spent a lot of time there, creating and exploring music, letting the good vibes take over.”

Aside from the hills the band cite their prime influence as Os Mutantes, one that extends beyond music - “Their music is amazing! Crazy, free, colourful, unexpected, melodic and groovy. Our vibes! But also the context where they grew up: a nation under a dictator, far from the Anglo-American scene they loved (from Haight-Ashbury to Swingin’ London, you know better than me)... Starting from Brazil, they created their own world, so strong and unique that still now has lots to say. It’s the thing we like to do: mix cultures and inspirations to create something new. I mean, we’re a free form band from the north of Italy, singing in English, playing crazy psych vibes and always travelling Europe with different musicians and artists... At least we try to do our thing! Then we will see... Bat Macumba!”

Fluttarn is out now on Trovarobato/Vaggimal Records.

The Blues Against Youth - Apprentice

One man, three chords, twelve songs and a few pals! Third LP from Rome's one-man blues band!

The third LP from Italy's Gianni TBAY is that rarest of beasts, a blues album that appeals to purists and neophiles alike. Firmly rooted in delta and country blues but infused with a 21^st century suss and swagger, it's suitable for back-porch or boutique festival alike. This time round the one-man band has enlisted some backing from his musician pals to flesh out his take on gutbucket blues.

TBAY's primitive beats and sophisticated lyrics, honed via relentless gigging, are intact throughout the album's twelve tracks, but benefit from the input of the extra musicians. (Check out the virtuoso guitar shredding on 'Boundless' or wailing harp on 'Barbed Times'.) Unlike a lost of blues records there's enough variation to keep the listener interested; party blues, stomping blues, travelling blues, plaintive slide-guitar laments, it's all there! Equally at home playing Southern boogie (Somebody Settles Down) or paying tribute to his country influences via the album's sole cover (Hank Williams' Lonesome Whistle Blow) TBAY's latest outing has a train load of authenticity and spirit. Hitch a ride why dontcha!

Click here for more on The Blues Against Youth.

Click here for The Blues Against Youth on Facebook.

Click here for The Blues Against Youth on Bandcamp.

Killer Boogie - Detroit

Put your hands up for Detroit! Italian fuzz-rockers tribute to Rock City.

Detroit has long been recognized as the spiritual home for all things gritty, dirty and deranged in rock 'n' roll. Ever since The Stooges and MC5 burst on the the global scene after formulating their sounds in the Motor City there's been a steady stream of bands in their wake carrying on that legacy. From Alice Cooper to The Gories, Suzi Quattro to The White Stripes, they've all shared a love for stripped-to-the-bone hard rock delivered with humour and intelligence. Ditto Killer Boogie, whose blues-rock roots are souped up like a custom muscle car.

Killer Boogie don't hail from Detroit but they would make good adopted sons. Instead they hail from Rome, a city more renowned for its Colosseum and Sistene Chapel than it is for hard riffing rock music. The three-piece band are something of a supergroup, featuring Gabriele Fiori on guitars and vocals (Black Rainbows), Luigi Costanzo on drums (The Wisdoom), and Matteo Marini on bass (though Eduardo Mancini played bass on these studio recordings.)

This cross fertilization of bands from the Heavy Psych Sounds roster results in an album that fits perfectly with the label's ethos and aesthetic. HPS is already a label with a strongly defined identity, one that this record reinforces via its proto-grunge and metal. Detroit may be a record of very fixed genre but that's most certainly the point. After all, you don't go to a pizzeria and ask for sushi! So expect some hard rock with a distinctly early '70s hue.

Much like the almost fabled city of the album's title, the record's spirit is one of rebellion, fused with a separateness from the wider musical world. Economically Detroit has been on the decline since its car producing heyday, a city that's both proud and haunted by its golden era. Similarly rock music's purple patch is commonly thought to be the early '70s, so it's in some way fitting that Killer Boogie echo those classic sounds.

That era saw the beginning of rock's love affair with guitar pedals, when pushing the limits of volume, speed and virtuosity was at the forefront of most denim clad musician's minds. Detroit shares all those fascinations and then some. Busy guitar solos and fuzzed-up riffs abound. It says much about the state of contemporary music when such sonic time travel can reward more than today's state of the art releases.

No wonder then that each new generation eventually discovers the music made by Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Thin Lizzy et al. Thank goodness there's a new breed of contemporary bands making music that carries a similarly heavy punch. Hats off to Killer Boogie and Heavy Psych Sounds for flying the flag for all things heavy!

Click here for more on Killer Boogie.

Click here for Heavy Psych Sounds.