‘Questi Danni‘ is the new album by the italian emopunk band Monteluna, an energetic whiplash of nostalgia, a smile at one’s adolescence and a few band-aids to put on the scratches it left behind.
A short record that always sounds fast, hurried like a student late under the ultimatum of the school bell. In the run we move from more limpid midwest emo-style moments to straighter passages borrowed from the 2000s school of Italian punk. A work with which the band has tried to find its own style but above all its own balance between the instinct towards a rough and edgy immediacy and the need to dig into memories in order to tell a sincere story.
‘Questi Danni‘ (These Damages) because one does not want to romanticize the past or get lost in nostalgia, but because one knows that every wound, every mistake, every scrape on the knee falling off the bike has contributed to making us the people we are. The album imagery consists of yellowed photos in which we barely recognise ourselves in order to remember and learn from the best and worst moments. The record will be released in a limited edition tape by the independent labels We’re Trying Records(USA) andStray records(AT).
This band is coming from La Rochelle, France and this is their debut full length album. There are ten songs on this one. Music is basically punk rock but with so much more influences thrown in. There are hardcore, metal, funk, reggae, midwest emo, but also blackgaze to be more modern. Lyrics deal with personal themes, like will to live, mental health issues, but also oppression and social injustices. I love how this band manages to mix all these influences in their music but still remain punk rock and punch you in the face. One of my personal favorites is ‘She Resisted Agonizingly’, mixture of fast hardcore punk and reggae with good lyrics. Vocals are more screaming and shouted and somehow fit perfectly to the atmosphere each of the songs has, because every song is different from the other and that is the beauty of this album. One other song I must also mention as favorite is ‘Fading’ which is totally cool with lyrics that goosebumps your skin. Also ‘Flashes of Corruption Destruction(in My Dreams)’ is worth mentioning having that cool catchy riff and reminding me of early Shelter, but hey, maybe it is only me. This is in fact an interesting album for all of you who love your punkrock diverse.
Glasgow’s Atlas : Empire released their new album containing twelve songs. How to describe the music on this release? Hard! Not because it is bad, quite the contrary, because it is so good. The music is a clever mixture of post rock, pop punk sensibility with ultra melodic song parts, some nineties emo punk band influences and also underneath it all lies good old pop rock music and its sense for great songwriting. They reminded me a lot of Croatian band called Trophy Jump. This music and album is quite personal and every one of us can listen and sense this album differently. In some songs it almost brought tears of joy to my eyes, thankful for being alive and listening to such great music with songs like ‘Former Lives’ and also ‘Resurrector’, song sounding so mighty and powerful that I had to listen to it two times in a row. This is one of those albums that you must listen to for couple of times in a row, because every time you listen to it again you will find something more beautiful that you didn’t catch upon last listening. Songs like ‘Inheritance’ or ‘Grey Havens’ are sure to win you over, but go listen and find your own favorite.
KRAYKULLA-WEBZINE 