The cover proclaims "this is not Italian prog rock" and I guess I canunderstand why they might want to put a warning on here: there'snothing progressive or impressive about this record at all. I've neverbeen so worked up and then so let down by an album before. Theambitiously titled "A New Start For Shoegazing Kids" launches therecord in a fantastic way. Full melodies drone in and out of the mixand guitars fuzz in and out of existence with them until everythingcoalesces and leaves a drug-addled and emotionally tainted phospherenceabout the room. It's a great first song and one that should'veintroduced a great record... And then there was "Penguin Serenade" andeverything beautiful about this record quickly died. What had come tomy ears in the shape and form of strong dynamics and raw power suddenlydistilled itself into the sounds of pathetic keyboards and predictabledphrasing. It takes four songs and way too much time for the record toregain any of its first-song glory and by then I was too damned callousto even care what the rest of the record sounded like. In fact, eventhe best songs on this record made me want to move forward. The bandsounds like they've played together for a long time, but it doesn'tseem like any of them know how to move beyond the most basic ideas. Themusic just drags sometimes; the melodies could be outrageously gorgeousbut I would simply yawn at them because of the way they moved. I'd besurprised if this group had a pulse to be honest. "Pearl Harbor" soundslike it's supposed to be raw and gripping and maybe even a little angryat points, but all I hear is the dull thud, thud, thudof the drums and the wank-away guitar feedback buried way too low inthe mix. Maybe the reason I dislike this record so much has somethingto do with the way it was produced, then, but that doesn't change thefact that I wouldn't bother picking this up, no matter how much all thecool kids on the block say it sounds like all that other instrumentalmusic so many have come to know and love. Yes, I remember hearing"Hallogallo" and "Paperhouse" and all that great music for the firsttime, but I don't want to hear the same damn thing done more horriblythan before over and over again. I know this isn't an album proper, buta collection of older tunes released prior to their first album - thatdoesn't change the fact that there's little, if anything, to like onthis release. It takes more than a pretty melody to make a good tuneand Giardini di Mirò proves that.Read More
