A/lpaca
Make It Better (white)
Repress of 300 copies on white vinyl, without inlay. Debut album of this young psychedelic post punk band from Mantova, Italy. The "beat", the hypnotic and obsessive force that recalls primitive dances, is the concept of 'Make It Better'. The album takes place in an imaginary "beat club", which is at the same time a place of liberation, fun and aggregation. The use of the "beat" has characterized humans since the dawn and has spanned the centuries, changing shape but not substance. In 'Make It Better' the beat is told as an impersonal spirit that advances, cold and impassive like the vocal lines, and guides the band towards a sort of artistic emancipation. The beat is also a way to stay united and purifying oneself from the "responsibilities" of real life and the transition from youth to adulthood, in short from the fear of not "being good enough". Finding refuge in music, with the legitimate dream of even making it a job, or simply going out to drink and dance with friends ("I wanna get drunk, just keep dancing with my friends", from the title track). A/lpaca's music picks up the signals from sixties London, in particular of bands such as Pink Floyd and Soft Machine (indirectly honored in the song I Am Kevin Ayers), mixes them with the Teutonic drive of Can, take some coolness from Joy Division and finally updates everything with the modern example of Thee Oh Sees and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. The result sounds hieratic and adrenaline, rigorous and wild, absolutely irresistible.