Italia 90

Italia 90 is a Brighton based band that plays post-punk with the fervor and mannerisms of an old school punk band. On the one hand they play a very sharp and angular style that may be reminiscent of early Gang of Four and Wire, though with more swirl than ornate layer of sonic textures exercised through distorted guitar noise. The bass and the drums hold down the fort with straightforward punk beats mixed in with funky bass lines straight out of the post-punk playbook. Vocalist Les Miserable speak sings with the bluster and acerbic tones of a young Mark E. Smith straight out of the early years of The Fall (see Dragnet, Slates). That said, the overall attitude, in no small part due to Miserable's flair, has the unmistakable marks of punk in its most cynical, fed up mode.