Punk gems: Lost and Found Volume 2

Radio Punk’s Lost and Found: A poker of – hopefully not – forgotten records

No Choice – Quando tutto è compromesso / 2000 (Vacation house)

Four completely different records for Radio Punk’s Lost and Found… let’s start from the year 2000, with a record that still gives me goosebumps to this day.

I’m talking about No Choice, a band from Bolzano, Italy, with their second release (the first one
being still a little too raw and not very personal in my opinion) “Quando tutto è compromesso”,
which still holds up as a masterpiece of a mini-album in songwriting, delivery, production, and
lyricism.

Vacation was on the constant lookout for a band to fill the void left by Sottopressione, who in that period left a hole in all of our hardcore kids’ hearts. But No Choice wasn’t set on imitating them, nor anyone else. The record kicks off with sort of a “talking” track, that translated into English goes something like: A person that doesn’t react to the events chooses a road that leads into darkness, this is Death feeding the life of whom it’s killing.

Pure poetry.

Likewise, sentences like Morso dentro, ma non morto dentro (that translates into “Bitten inside, but not dead inside”. It does lose a bit of impact when translated, unfortunately) will follow me for the rest of my life. In the track “Cittadini dell’eternità” there’s even a quote recited like a mantra in German. In the booklet’s footnotes, you can, in fact, find literary inspirations that you’d never expect from an HC record.

The album is still a heavy-hitter musically speaking, contrasted by a very clean voice and
surprisingly catchy vocal lines. There are also some Suicidal-esque metal guitar solos. Finishing off with a classical guitar ghost track was mind-bending for a 20 years old boy like me, who just so happened to stumble across this cd – now fully worn-out – with an absurd cover art made up of flyers, and an even crazier cd screenprint (that I won’t spoil for you).

C.S.C.H. – Se fossi una ragazza / 2002 (Ammonia)

In 2002, Ammonia published this band from Veneto that I was already familiar with thanks to the cd that came out through Agitato Rec. and the 7” with “L’amico di Martucci” that was paired at launch with a weird video. I remember getting my hands on this record in the Feltrinelli – Ricordi shop in Alessandria, consuming it pretty quickly. I still listen to it regularly, partially because it brings back memories of carefree days. “Moltiplicare”, “L’uomo radioattivo”, “Il c.a.t.”and “Se fossi una ragazza” are downright gems walking the thin line between straight-up punk rock and Motorhead inspired rock ‘n’ roll. Personally, I would have preferred a more raw-sounding record, like the production on “Il c.a.t.”, which still stands as the only really aggressive-sounding track in the project. The Italian language, in this case, made the difference, building up the unique sound of the band.

Ouzo – Less bibles, more doubts / 2008 (coproduzione D.I.Y.)

I scored Ouzo’s cd at some distro, I don’t fully recall on what occasion though. I was immediately blown away by the fact that they were from Perugia but sounded like they came straight from the U.S.A. Also, while the record is very melodic, it never ends up being too sappy, straying from the emo that, at the time, was still pretty dangerous for punk. Delivery and production are impeccable, these are very high standards for a D.I.Y. production. Ouzo will bring back to mind the 90s, those still unripe and genuine years… untainted.

Smart Cops – Per proteggere e servire / 2011 (Sorry State, Tempesta)

The last Ace in this poker couldn’t have been anything but Smart Cops’ “Per proteggere per servire”, a garage punk record that’s sensational in my opinion. From the theatrical looks to the grotesque lyrics, this band always impressed me, and, back when that was a thing, this record always found a spot in my DJ sets, gathering only praise from the people. The sounds came straight out of the 60s and mixed themselves with a rude and never watered-down singing, regardless of what the genre would ask for. Not to mention the striking music video for “Il cattivo tenente”. Death isn’t a limit, drugs aren’t obstacles, I’ll never erase the shit (Translated literally)… What else?

Paolo Merenda

Translated by Teo

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