MILANOSPORT

About

" A scuzzy, brutalist re-interpretation of punk, surf, rock, and indie "

Concrete. It’s cold and hard. Brutalist. Extremely durable, and capable of bearing heavy loads. Yet it can also be versatile. Malleable even. “With concrete you can cover almost any space” said the famed modernist architect, Oscar Niemeyer. Give the debut record from Milan quintet MILANOSPORT a spin, let it worm its way into your brain, and some of these adjectives come to mind. You’ll then find it’s entirely apt that they’ve called it ‘Concrete’.

Taking cues from – deep breath – punk, surf rock, synth-pop, shoegaze, old Soviet records and, in their own words, Irish words, their music is somewhat hard to pin down. There are elements of brutalist cold and no wave too (the title track and ‘Genau’), doom-laden rock (‘Sushi’), and even sweet, charming numbers driven by acoustic guitar (‘Take The Truth’). But that’s not to say this is unfocused; far from it. United by singer Frederico’s slow burn baritone and a creative way with melody, the record – and the band – fizzes with excitement and unpredictability. No wonder one review described their work as “Like Godzilla spitting flames”.

There’s real depth and musicality here too, derived from the individual member’s varied experiences abroad and in the studio: while Federico spent time in the Netherlands, electronic maestro Riccardo honed his skills in Sweden. Live, they’re something of a revelation – they won the esteemed Steve Strange Award at last year’s Great Escape Festival, voted on by industry delegates – and they’ll be popping up, and blazing away, on a variety of stages throughout 2024. They might even become as ubiquitous, and as respected, as concrete.