CONTRADICTION

This Italian quartet (plus a few guests) are looking to America as they bring in loads of Zappa influences to create an album that is somehow both accessible while being extremely complex and off the wall. I suppose the nearest current band to compare them with would probably be Frogg Café, but somehow that doesn't really capture the beauty of the very complicated and definitely progressive album. That this is a guitarist's album is never in doubt, nor is the fact that this is definitely progressive as it rips themes and styles from so many different places and somehow managed to put it all back together in a different order, but making sense. There is even a small classical section in closing track "Bourgeois" which just manages to provide even more emphasis to the Talking Heads meets Zappa for a buffet where they sample everything feel of what is going on around it.

This could never be termed 'neo-prog', but is gain furthering the rich tradition of truly progressive bands that have come out of Italy. This is one that is extremely complex while also maintaining a simplicity that allows the listener to get into what is going on, although it does hurt when the jaw keeps hitting the table. These are very fine musicians indeed who know what each other is about.