AL VOLO

In Italy very few people know the Stormy Six and those very few are elderly people who were leftist militants in the Seventies or Eighties. I met the Stormy Six by chance, they were the apologists of another band at a concert held at the Communist party show in the early Nineties. Even then they were considered dinosaurs, extinct fossils but they had a small audience of their own. In short, they were a cult group, considered combat-folk (politically militant folk), not prog-rock. Their manifesto song was Stalingrado.

After that concert, I looked for their discs, and listening to them, I became a fan. Their music is very elaborate: Stormy Six are not the typical folk group with acoustic guitars and politically engaged lyrics: their music is as demanding and sophisticated as their lyrics. "Al Volo" is their last record. The first song "Non si sa dove stare" (vote 7,5) has an almost electronic sound, syncopated, based on rhythm, which recalls certain new wave music. "Reparto Novità" (vote 7) contains a critique of the consumer society. It is also a ballad punctuated by the rhythm section (Pino Martini on bass, Salvatore Garau on drums). The singing (Umberto Fiori) is stunted. The third song, "Piazza degli Affari" (Affairs Square) is an electronic track (Tommaso Leddi on synths); weak (voto 6,5).

"Ragionamenti" is another electronic ballad, with robotic rhythm, Ultravox style. But then there are polyphonic choirs and vibes solo (Franco Fabbri). Very strange (vote 7,5). "Panorama" is again marked by the great work of the bass, which gives way to a song once again difficult, suffered, but without reaching a great pathos, without arriving to the mood of existential angst that pervades the records of Peter Gabriel, that these tracks recall (vote 6,5/7).

"Roma" has a sunny beginning, but soon the gloomy atmosphere is outlined by the voice and the bass, alternating with a rare melodic opening (vote 7+). "Parole grosse" (Big Words) has an electronic start and then repeat the robotic rhythm already heard (vote 6,5). In general these songs are blurred, the arrangement is sought but does not reach that sound capable of transmitting strong emotions. The singer's voice does not have the anguish that shines through for example in Peter Gabriel, and is better in other contexts.

"Denti" (Teeth) is a short but lively song (vote 6.5 / 7), which makes irony on television: again the group chooses social satire instead of the politically militant song. The last track ("Cosa danno", again on TV, vote 6+) is happy again (the record ends with an increase in rhythm and extroversion) but too obvious and repetitive.

"Al Volo" is an unconventional album, which does not seek the easy commercial success, but does not find its strong identity, and in fact after this disc ends the experience of Stormy Six, which feel overcome by the times, both ideological and musical. A band that still deserves a lot of respect because it has previously recorded remarkable records, and unique in the Italian scene.

Medium Quality of the Songs: 6,89. Vote album: 6+. Rating: Two Stars.