L'ATTENZIONE DEBOLE

Mary Newsletter's fourth album is a fresh take on the modern spacey prog rock album. The true Italian spirit of adventure and humor can be found in this eclectic mix of rock, psych, pop, and electronica. They list their influences as Pink Floyd, Radiohead, and Quicksilver Messenger Service and their guitar sound could be compared to Mark Knofler at times though it is often not as clean sounding as Dire Straits but with more of a spaced-out vibe.

"integro" begins with bleepy samples, weird sounding guitar and distorted wordless vocals. Some frisky acoustic guitar joins in. Then the band comes in heavily with good bass and drums. No one shows off too much but you can tell they are good players. Some normal vocals alternate with the distorted ones. The last minute features some weird squawking noises to the jamming guitar. "il colpo e la croce" is my favorite track starting with eerie noises to acoustic guitar. A beautiful and haunting vocal starts soon after that with absolutely perfect expressive space guitar and bass creating a Djam Karet style atmosphere. There is an odd effect to the vocal that gives a sense of helplessness to the subject. Soft piano sprinkles, bird like noises, and sparingly used percussion all add so much. The Levin sounding bass playing carries the track through some of the quieter moments. "peccato." comes charging out of the previous song with an upbeat drum beat and some rock guitar and heavy bass. More odd vocals give the otherwise static song a little edge. "illusione/delusione" is a jamming instrumental workout. "la pace" features both regular drumming and hand percussion with wah-wah guitar and good vocals. More nice piano here and there. The song structure breaks down in the middle and has some open space with just jazzy cymbals and loose guitar leads. One of the stronger tracks. "morte di un moderato" is quite bizarre with a movie soundtrack feeling, like from a strange 60s film. Exotic instrumentation and a "no rules" playing style of each man for himself. "step forward" is a strange song that begins with an electronica styled programmed beat with psych guitar in the background and wistful vocals. It slowly evolves into a good electric guitar solo over nice slow rhythm before the fast programmed beat returns at the end. "comin' into LA" may go down as the strangest cover I've ever heard. It's an electronica version of Arlo Guthrie's old "Coming into Los Angeles" that could be played at a rave to a roomful of partiers. It's a bit ridiculous to be sure but this album has a sense of humor lost on lots of dry artists. "nothing but the net" is almost a mix of punk, surf, and psych-pop. "in fondo" like the previous track shows the wheels coming off the wagon even further, in a good way, as "normal rock" music blurs into a loose, trippy rock chaos.

This is probably not the band's finest moment, I've been told earlier works are superior. I think 3 stars is being generous as there are some nice moments but inconsistency as well. The band's myspace site claims they have disbanded since this recording. The Mellow issue comes with a lyric booklet and nice artwork on the front and back covers.

Unless they make a comeback this looks to be MARY NEWSLETTER's final album, released in 2004. Compared to the previous record i'd say that this one is more modern sounding and they've expanded the electronics that were used on that album. Interesting that their singer from the previous recording left the band so the drummer took over those duties. He felt that it was too much though to sing and play the drums so they hired a new singer, but the drummer had already recorded all the vocals for this record. The band then decided to let the new singer sing on what were intended to be instrumentals called "Peccato" and "In Fondo".

"Integro" is my favourite track. Electronics and a beat with these very processed vocals that come and go throughout. Acoustic guitar joins in. I like when it kicks in before 2 minutes. Great sound ! Nice bass too as normal vocals follow. "Il Colpo E La Croce" is a dreamy track with strummed guitar, keys, bass and vocals standing out. I like it. It settles right down 5 minutes in with piano and spacey sounds. It starts to rebuild as drums and vocals return. Nice. "Peccato" opens with heavy drums as aggressive guitar joins in. Vocals follow. Spoken words follow. "Illusione / Delusione" is a short one minute track with drums, organ and guitar leading the way. "La Pace" opens with sounds that seem to echo as vocals join in. This one has a jazzy vibe too. "Morte Di Un Moderatu" features drums, percussion, bass and guitar that comes and goes. It's building 3 minutes in. An interesting song that seems to have a Spanish feel to it at times.

"Step Forward" has this heavy beat and guitar. Vocals before a minute as the tempo picks up, although it continues to shift. Great sound after 4 1/2 minutes. "Coming Into L.A." is a cover of an Arlo Guthrie song. Apparently it was the first ever song the band played together some 10 years previous. It was also a tune they played live a lot. This is very different from the original with all the electronics. "Nothing But The Net" opens with vocals, keys and percussion that are contrasted with the guitar dominated sections. A fuller sound 2 minutes in. "In Fondo" opens with a beat as strummed guitar and keybords join in. Vocals after a minute. Some spoken words as well. I like the guitar before 3 minutes.

For my taste this one isn't as enjoyable as the previous album. I really like the first couple of tracks then it's hit and miss the rest of the way. The vocals are step down in quality as well. Good album though. 3.5 stars.