Following two strong demo tapes and the flawless ripper that was last year's debut album via Emotional Response Records, Oakland's Neutrals already have another EP out on which they seemlessly resume their remarkable winning spree. No other band right now so effortlessly nails this specific subgenre of endlessly charming, qirky heart-on-its-sleeve style DIY post-/art punk surely inspired by the likes of Television Personalities, early Mekons or Desperate Bicycles, while still seeming firmly rooted in this day and age.
Two preview tracks from this (probably) british band's debut EP already made me kinda hungry for more of their shit and now the record's other two songs prove we haven't been promised too much. A soundscape of restless garage punk unfolds, transporting a feeling of widescreen spaciousness you rarely get to witness in this genre - somewhat as if recent Uranium Club met Radio Birdman and Modern Lovers, complemented by a bit of MX-80 weirdness. Also, the epic closer Seasons 13-31 seems to have taken some cues from Wipers' Youth Of America.
Although other british bands of their genre enjoyed much more media attention than london art-/post punks Italia 90 have in recent years, few other bands, in my humble opinion, embody so much of the soul and rebellious no-bullshit DIY attitude of the scene, a bitter and emotional indictment of a society collectively shrugging off its own guilty conscience. It's about time this Band gets noticed a lot more. On their third EP -just like on its predecessors - i hear strong echoes of old post punk greats: Crisis, Membranes, Swell Maps and early Mekons for example. Simultaneously Italia 90 keep expanding on their sonic spectrum. Usually when punks go slow, this tends to result in a horrible trainwreck. But surprisingly, the slowest, most subdued moments are the clear highlights of this record. In Open Veins, the gentle performance collides with the disillusioned and angry charges delivered by its lyrics. This combination reminds me a bit of recent Protomartyr, while the closing track Against The Wall has a subtle psychedelic note in common with Wire's Chairs Missing album.
