Deadburger
C'è Ancora Vita Su Marte
Goodfellas

Italian combo Deadburger claim to have taken their name from the 1973 sci-fi movie Soylent Green (directed by Richard Fleischer, starring Charlton Heston, Edward G. Robinson, Joseph Cotten, plus others). C'è Ancora Vita Su Marte (meaning There Is Still Life On Mars) is their 4th album, and a glimpse inside what's on in Italian rock, in the landscapes of psych-experimental-avant-space-jazz music.

The Firenze quintet are: Alessandro Casini (guitars, etc), Vittorio Nistri (electronics, keys, samples, loops, etc), Simone Tilli (vocals, guitars, trumpet), Lorenzo Moretto (drums) and Carlo Sciannameo (bass). In addition they seem to bring in a number of guest musicians (saxophone, theremin, etc). C'è Ancora Vita Su Marte sounds rather dramatic. It's a collection of theatrical rock music going in many directions, and there seems also to be a political thread throughout the album. Since Deadburger sing in Italian I'm saved by the extremely rich and well-produced press sheet following the promo copy. Vittorio Nistri, who's written most lyrics, has translated the lyrics for people (like me) not understanding Italian. And also explained some of the (Italian) names, content and meanings.

I find the record being too long and maybe also with a tad too much variation (to many directions). With its 22 tracks it's clocking in at nearly 1 hour, which in most cases just annoy me or make me lose my attention. Yet, it's fascinating to get to check out something brand new, especially holding lyrics in a tongue I can't understand without lingual assistance. I like some of the quieter songs (well, some of the more rhythmic tracks as well), but I'm a bit more turned off when Deadburger hits the harder, more metallic (think Billy Corgan's ex-Pumpkins' project) stuff. It's not a bad album, it should've been some 15 minutes shorter.

Copyright © 2007 Håvard Oppøyen