SAINT IN A ROW - Saint In A Row

At last we can say it: we too have our own indie supergroup, born - just like the "real" ones - not out of record-label calculation but out of chance friendship in the studio. Once again it's Brescia where the good intentions converge in a joint venture between Pierluigi Ballarin of The Record's (or rather R's, after the recent run-in with the South By Southwest crowd), the tireless Fabio Dondelli of Annie Hall, and Giovanni Ferrario, by now the deus ex machina behind several Italian independent releases. To these three are added two more members from up-and-coming bands on the Brescia scene: Michele Marelli of Ovlov and Stefano Moretti of Pink Holy Days. Releasing this record, strictly on 180-gram vinyl with an accompanying CD, is Mantua-based label Foolica.

Eight songs of gentle psychedelic pop, straddling Beatles-esque suggestions and roots echoes, yet played with Ferrario's characteristic knack for crisp, clean production. In short, it goes without saying that "Saint In A Row" is a decidedly high-quality product, especially by Italian standards. Every instrument is exactly where it should be, from the horn accompaniment on "Courses" and "Sunday Morning Family Refit" (their answer to "I'm Only Sleeping"?), to the restless wrist-flicking guitar work of the Beck-like "Wires", to the little organ on "Midnight", and so on.

What "Saint In A Row" lacks are songs truly worth remembering - the songwriting feels somewhat lacking in grip and tends toward a dangerous kind of regression. The tracks settle into a chord progression without much conviction, hastening to hide themselves away, to shy from the spotlight, as if afraid of bothering anyone ("Midnight", "Wires", "Ode To Spring").

Too little to view this release as anything more than a spontaneous display of vitality from the Brescia scene, rather than as a serious alternative project to the bands - all of them, incidentally, in fine health - from which the members of Saint In A Row hail.

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10/04/2011