Author: Aurelio Pasini

Title: Il Vile

Publisher: Il Mucchio editore

Pages: 82

Price: 10 euros

During the first half of the Nineties, the coincidence of several favorable circumstances made possible the development of a particularly thriving and inspiring Italian alternative rock scene.

These circumstances can be summed up as follows: the willingness of some major labels to invest in the underground rock scene (the sensational international success of Nirvana and the whole grunge brood was still fresh in everyone's mind), the presence of producers and industry insiders more forward-thinking than in the past, and the growing attention from certain radio and TV networks.

The result was the emergence of virtuous projects of absolute quality: Afterhours, Csi, Almamegretta, La Crus, Massimo Volume, Yo Yo Mundi, Casino Royale and Disciplinatha, just to name a few. But the name that quickly became the reference point for the entire movement was Marlene Kuntz.

Hailing from the Piedmont countryside, Marlene Kuntz were the first in Italy to pull off a successful mix of distinctly American sounds (clearly derived from Sonic Youth) and lyrics written in the language of Dante, without it ever feeling like an awkward forced fit.

After the inevitable apprenticeship period, Marlene Kuntz won over critics and audiences alike right from their phenomenal debut "Catartica", a collection of generational anthems of the caliber of "Sonica", "Nuotando nell'aria", "Festa mesta" and "Lieve".

Aurelio Pasini's book on "Il Vile" examines the second album by the quartet from Cuneo, a record with which the band found themselves in the difficult position of having to prove that "Catartica" had not simply been a lucky, one-off fluke.

And they managed it by keeping the same lineup from their debut, with meticulous production by Marco Lega and supervision by Gianni Maroccolo, under the watchful wing of the Consorzio Produttori Indipendenti.

"Il Vile", released in April 1996, pulled off the difficult feat of confirming the band's immense potential, combining musical structures that were anything but predictable or linear with the refined lyrics of Cristiano Godano, the band's singer and leader, joined by Riccardo Tesio on guitars, Luca Bergia on drums and Dan Solo, who had just stepped in on bass.

Aurelio Pasini, one of the sharpest and most knowledgeable music journalists and critics around, delivers a concise, effective work in which, after sketching out the scene the band emerged from, he delves into the working methods used during the album's recording sessions, the genesis of each individual song, and the themes explored in the lyrics, alternating his own writing with contributions from most of the people involved.

Not only the band's own members, but also other figures who for various reasons were close to the four musicians - such as Manuel Agnelli (who later brought them into the traveling Tora! Tora! tour), or people who were simply fans at the time, like Alberto Ferrari of Verdena, who would later attest to how much his own generation (and he himself) drew inspiration from the work of Godano and co., especially as a reference point for building rock songs with Italian lyrics.

Pasini lingers over a series of delightful details, such as the choice of cover photo, the account of the inevitable moments of tension during the five weeks of recording at Piovani's farmhouse, and the band's choice of desired sound, revealing how Marlene Kuntz looked less to Sonic Youth than to the recent work of Kyuss and Soundgarden.

And indeed the final result was a harder record than its predecessor "Catartica", an album of great cohesion and consistency that managed to become a solid commercial success despite being an artistically demanding proposition (42,000 copies sold, making it one of the best-selling Italian indie rock albums of all time) - undoubtedly a landmark work in the history of homegrown alt-rock.

From a strictly artistic standpoint, the author reveals just how much importance Marlene Kuntz placed on melody and song form, the choice of unusual guitar tunings, and Godano's careful selection of words, ever ready to dig up archaic or rarely used terms from everyday vocabulary.

The book is also an enjoyable collection of anecdotes (who would have imagined the four of them locked in long poker games during recording breaks?) and takes care to shed light on tracks that were left off the final tracklist (the beloved "Aurora", later released on an EP, and the still-unreleased "Oblio").

In the closing section, there's naturally room for excerpts from some of the album reviews published at the time in the leading specialist magazines.

"Il Vile" (the book), currently available for purchase only online, is the second release in an unmissable series devoted to the greatest albums in Italian rock, useful both for longtime fans and newcomers alike, as it offers a fuller appreciation of certain records and allows for a remarkable depth of insight.

"Il Vile" (the album) was the record everyone was waiting for at the time: a compact essay on existential unease and difficulty relating to others, telling of troubled love affairs, deviant eroticism, conformity to pre-set standards, overdoses and tragic car accidents, in a successful portrayal of the anxieties and frustrations of those years. An album capable of capturing the spirit and emotional tenor of its era and giving it a lyrical-musical charge never heard before in this country.

Paying tribute once again to "Il Vile" was truly the least one could do, especially in days when Marlene Kuntz are increasingly more Marlene and less Kuntz.

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26/09/2025