Monster Zero Records – April 10, 2020
Riccobellis bring lots of Ramones love
Okay, so upon first seeing band pictures (and prior to ever hearing their music), I guessed Riccobellis to be a Ramones-indebted punk band in line with other Italian punks like The Manges, The Popsters, Teenage Bubblegum, and The Livermores. I should say, taking leaps based on superficial imagery and the like is not necessarily a good nor accurate way of discerning such information. I’ve made similar guesses over the years, and have ended up sorely disappointed. I can be a dummy. However, in the particular case of Riccobellis, I was right on.
Battlestar Galactica is the newest offering from Riccobellis, a fourteen song record with some obvious indebtedness to Ramones. The record takes off with a great opening triumvirate. “Battlestar Galactica” is a hooky Ramones-aping song. “Crazy Molly” falls in line nicely with a compelling sort of panic to the vocal delivery of the chorus. And the third song, “Murder On Avenue A” opens with a pretty standard Ramones-esque verse, but this one takes a turn with an instrumental bridge that seems to draw from the Riverdales playbook before launching into a chorus that is the catchiest thirty seconds on this record, singing “murder on Avenue A, I was running from the DEA” repeatedly. Great song, I love it. And later songs like “Forever Holiday” and “I Remember You” bring back the catchiness. In particular, “I Remember You” (not the Ramones song) is a slower stylized ballad sort of song that builds going into the start of each verse and comes complete with great hooks, some handclaps, a key change, and Ramones-referencing lyrics.
All that goodness said, parts of Battlestar Galactica don’t quite land for me. The slower stomp of “Lost In Tokyo” goes on for nearly three minutes and never quite hits. And “Drunk & Drugs” works in some gang vocals, but there’s nothing sticking in my brain. Likewise, closer “Born To Die In Berlin”, has a cool guitar riff bridging into each verse and a hooky chorus, but the verse itself seems ho-hum and kind of sucks the fun out of the song for me.
Riccobellis have a lot going for them. The guitars buzz, the attitude is there, and they can write some great songs. But on Battlestar Galactica, a few songs sort of come across as Riccobellis on cruise control. Counterpoint: the good stuff is really, really good.
Why you might like it:
- Ramones-vibe is strong and I love the Ramones
- There is a really good EP on here
Why you might not:
- Those not into Ramones or Ramones-aping bands will likely want to try something else
- There is also a pretty average EP on here
ryan is a reviewer and news editor for TGEFM. He’s very secretive, he might be an alien.
