NOISE TRADE COMPANY - Crash Test One

The name of Gianluca Becuzzi has been present in recent years in several interesting musical projects centered around Florence. The most important name he's been tied to was undoubtedly Pankov, but Limbo and Kinetix are two other significant situations in which he's played a leading role.

A path that has ranged from new wave to electronic experimentalism, and which today finds a worthy synthesis in Noise Trade Company, a project in which he shares the stage with singer Chiara Migliorini.

"Crash Test One", the duo's debut, is a heartfelt homage to certain wave-noise-derived atmospheres, blending the most industrial post-punk with electric drifts influenced by the work of Sonic Youth and the like.

The result is a hybrid that at times sketches deeply sonic landscapes and at others ventures into situations bordering on the least alienated strains of techno.

Amid drum machines, treated guitars and openly vintage synths, we find ourselves facing a work that, despite appearing vaguely démodé and overly derivative (there's even a very faithful cover of "Nag Nag Nag" by Cabaret Voltaire), finds its own reason for being, a coherent sense, and in some passages manages to assemble a puzzle capable of sketching out possible future developments.

No nostalgia for its own sake, but a firm determination to reckon with the past in order to project itself into tomorrow, without ruling out the possibility that many other young Italian bands might reap the fruits of Becuzzi's work to keep charting a new musical path.

If you're more interested in the aspects most closely tied to noise developments, I'd suggest focusing on the two parts of "High Resolution Chaos" and especially on "Nineteen Seventy Eight", a track with a typically Sonic Youth-like structure. If you're a fan of the more aggressive dj-sets, I'd point you instead to "Feel The Beat" and the Prodigy-esque "News From The Past", a lesson in how to bring alt-electro-rock into the club. If you're an incurable lover of the new wave scene, the first three tracks will be perfect for you.

By pursuing this path, Noise Trade Company are unlikely to find a place in the trendiest hit parades; it's far more likely they'll become a beacon for generations of underground rockers with a thing for electronics. And that second scenario isn't necessarily the less rewarding one.

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17/11/2008