PARTICELLE

Lagartija are a relatively new Italian band and Particelle is their second album. Vocalist Sara Aliani also does bass duties here as well. The musicianship and singing is nice and well done but nothing really stands out. The compositions are well written and well performed but again, nothing stands out. A good sounding and consistent album that doesn't have many high points, but no real low points either. The overall sound of the group is a mix of the more melodic and accessible side of RPI with modern alternative/indie rock, particularly Radiohead, and maybe some post rock as well. "Idiosincrasia" reminds me of Radiohead. Nice sax (or is it an accordion? or a synth imitating either??). Good opening instrumental which gets more post rock sounding near the end with some sax soloing.

The distorted female vocals in "Myths" remind me of the singer from Portishead (can't remember her name). Overall a fairly easy-going and accessible song. The last minute or so which is instrumental is the best part. "L'Abbraccio" starts off with more of that Radiohead style drumming, where it sounds like a real drummer is trying to imitate a drum machine. Another easy-going and accessible track but not quite as interesting as the last song. "Tete" is a really good instrumental which sounds like a cross between Radiohead, post rock and RPI. Lots of good sax work here. "Non si puo' cambiare" is a more poppy and commercial track. The singing here (in Italian) reminds me of the singing by Ximena (in Spanish) on Omar Rodriguez- Lopez's solo albums. It ends with a baby crying. I HATE this part. I can't stand the sound of a baby crying. I'm literally that horrible of a human being.

"Sbrisiu" is a jazzy piano-only instrumental. The 13 minute title track begins with some guitar arpeggios and sax (or trumpet?). Some more post rock/Radiohead style drumming. Later goes into jazzy Italian prog. Sara's vocals here are probably the best on the whole album. A male spoken word part as the bass repeats a 6-note line. Some sax work near the end that sounds like the voice of a disturbed man echoing in the hallway of a mental institution. "Emilia Malinconica" is one of the weaker songs and is a letdown after the title track. Tremolo/vibrato guitar seems to be the only standout thing until the tempo picks up and the band rocks out at the end. Overall a decent album but don't expect anything too original or challenging. A good, consistent effort but not a lot more (or less) that I could say about it. 3 stars.