Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: DiCose
Label: AK Records
Released: 2011
Duration: 27:14
Rating: 3/5
DiCose are Calabrian punk rockers with a dash of hardcore, and their nihilism can now and then, in a psychedelically rasping hit-or-miss way, channel the old-school templates of Nirvana or even Alice In Chains (Lucerna Tavioli, Sidewalks).
The EP with the goofy title »Cherries And Broken Ass« is a manifesto of garage wildness, a rattling, full-blown tornado that gets its power from the raw potency of this trio. The genuine essence of the band has been captured, and that’s what counts most. The vocal howling is annoying and does a great job of wearing down the thick, impenetrable skin of even the sturdiest ears. If you make it through this EP without a brain hemorrhage, even after the acoustic Bikini. Fast. Drive., you qualify as a bona fide scientific miracle. But the fascinating thing about these alternative sonic structures is that, within all that boundless obnoxiousness, a seductive dose of snark shows itself, one that uncompromisingly smashes musical taboos, with which DiCose dish out hefty slaps to the purists of music.
The guitar layers are voluminous, and the riff wall of pure sonic terrorism is already edging into the noisiness of metal bands. The fuzz and the squeaking of the instruments are fully preserved; the band recorded the EP by playing it the garage way, like a live gig or, more precisely, a serious rehearsal. Despite the expected fact that the band doesn’t bring anything new to the horizon, it wins you over precisely with its authenticity. That authenticity radiates a happy dose of unbending aggression and rebellious middle-finger-in-the-air energy, caught in punk-rock hanging-out mode. Naturally, it doesn’t dodge the hedonistic calls to the fairer sex to indulge in excesses of pleasure.
The band has a nice foundation on which to deepen its musical character in the future, but it will still have to decide whether it’ll write its lyrics in Italian or English. The lyrics, and even the song titles themselves, don’t hide a partial lucidity, which their rock principle of »kicking you straight in the teeth« takes in its stride, and that’s a welcome bonus. Let’s hope the debut album brings more internal consolidation to the trio in defining its musical style. The EP shows, with its character-driven diffusion of motifs (thankfully, there’s no confusion), that DiCose are still looking for themselves a little.
Lineup
Ghenaz – vocals, drums
SpAt – guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals
Sir Witz – guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals
Production
DiCose
Tracklist
1. Fandong
2. Fhranciskina’s Son
3. This Tuck-0
4. Ego Al Chiodo
5. Lucerna Tavioli
6. Sidewalks (You have to walk on the… eh!)
7. Bikini Fast Drive
