🇮🇹🤘 Italian indie rock bands masterpost 🤘🇮🇹
So I'm seeing a LOT of support toward Måneskin from people pretty much all around the globe by now and that made me so damn happy that I decided to make a post about some Italian bands from the alt-rock/metal scene I know/listen to that I think you (hopefully!!) would love as well <3
What's more to say about Måneskin? I've known them for ten seconds and they're already consuming my life. Peak bisexual energy. The lyrics are what I wish I could write; Damiano's voice is what I wish I sounded like; their instrumentals is what I wish my life was like; their aesthetic is how I wish I could dress like. God speed beautiful you bastards, can't wait to see you at the top of the world
IN NOME DEL PADRE ("In the name of the Father") is angry, sleazy and sinful, just like Damiano comparing himself to Jesus Christ in the lyrics for all the times he "died" (ergo the failed attempts to break through as a musician or, more generally, all the hardship he went through his life) but every time it was worth it (Son morto più di cento volte, mai morto invano trad. "I died more than one hundred times, but never in vain").
He states that he won't forget the past and all the people who doubted him, looked at him as if he was insane or didn't take him or his passion seriously because of his young age, that he'll never stop aiming for the sky (Toccare il cielo e tornare a mangiare asfalto trad. "To touch the sky and come back face down in the dirt"), that the stage isn't enough for him and he hungers for more (Ehi, fate spazio, fatene tanto /Che adesso non mi basta il mondo, non mi basta il palco trad. Hey, get out of my way/ Because the stage is not enough, the world is not enough for me). I get Mötley Crüe's Too Fast For Love era and Appetite for Destruction vibes from this, anyone else?
Go check out "Coraline" (heartbreaking ballad about a girl who grew up with huge insecurities in an unfriendly environment and great sensitivity to whom the singer offers a possibility to open up to him, pure poetry) and "Vent'anni" ("Twenty years", it's along the lines of In nome del Padre, talks about the youth who isn't taken seriously by others when they talk about their dreams, especially if that dream is to become a musician/artist, 10/10 very angry) if you haven't already! They're two of my favorite songs by them who am I kidding the whole fucking album is my favorite song by them
they're the spiritual fathers to Måneskin in a way (Afterhours' singer, Manuel Agnelli, was their coach when the band entered X-Factor's latest edition) and a pillar of Italy's indie scene. The singer looks a worryingly lot like Severus Snape but that adds to his decadent hero's charm
cryptic lyrics, haunting bassline, tormented voice: Male di Miele literally means "pain of honey" or "honeyache" (a juxtaposition that i find brilliant) and has been defined as "the italian Smells Like Teen Spirit" which I think is incredibly accurate
check out "Dentro Marilyn" ("Inside Marilyn") from their first album too to appreciate Manuel's vocal abilities at their fullest!
Previously named "Superhorrorfuck", they're the epitome of what I want the "Glam/Shock rock revival" to be like. Exhaggerated, flashy, just too much and unique in the modern scene, they resurrected what KISS, Mötley Crüe, Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper started back in the 70s and 80s: it doesn't take too long to realize where they took inspiration for their iconic makeup from! Edward's maniacal voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard (but, like, in a good way) accompained with loud, raw and hysterical guitars that make you feel like you snorted ten lines of coke. If Ed's appearance reminded you of a blond Marilyn Manson I'm pretty sure it was his intention.
Here's something from their latest album, came out in 2020, "Italians Die Better":
also little side note: THESE DUDES LITERALLY COME FROM MY OWN TOWN LMAO??? DO I NEED TO SAY MORE LIKE, I THINK THE GUITARIST WENT AT MY SAME HIGHSCHOOL AND I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT IT'S SO FUCKING COOL
Coming straight from the 90s, another important band in the alternative/electronic italian scene. They all look like they could be my uncles, I trust them
Here's probably their most famous and recognizable song from 1999, "Tutti i miei sbagli" (All my mistakes):
another military stone in the alternative/psychedelic rock/grunge scene in Italy, for fine connoisseurs only. if i had to choose only a word to describe them, i'd say "visionaries": every album of theirs is a trip to unexplored, indefinite territories that take you to an undescribable dimension (pretty sure their music is the closest to what overdosing on xanax feels like) and their lyrics don't necessarily make sense. either that or Alberto (the dude on the left in the pic who looks both like Charles Manson and your 14yo cousin who thinks he's a man bc he smokes and has one chesthair) is an alien sent from space and is speaking the language of the gods, but we don't have the means to understand what he's trying to communicate. either way, shit slaps, dude pls make another album
Their first single from 1999, Valvonauta ("Valvenaut"???? A valve astronaut??? I think???? idk man) (don't worry about trying to understand the meaning, more than 20 years have gone by since it came out and nobody has got it yet):
Tre allegri ragazzi morti
literally "Three Happy Dead Lads". Idk man they put me in a good mood while at the same time giving me nostalgia of memories I never had and times I never lived. Great listen if you want to have an existential crisis
if "Male di Miele" is the italian Smells Like Teen Spirit, I consider "Il Mondo Prima" (The World Before) to be the corrispondent to In Bloom: sounds like a very happy-go-lucky song but has a very dark and melancholic meaning behind the lyrics:
The Bastard Sons of Dioniso
Coming from Trentino Alto Adige, the Bastard Sons of Dionysus classified second place at the second edition of italian X-Factor. Their style is very... Theatrical? It's very unique. It's like if a group of renaissance minstrels who used to entertain the Gonzagas took a ride on the time machine (probably invented by Da Vinci, wouldn't be surprised if he thought about it back then or actually made some prototypes even) and got teleported in the future, where they discovered modern instruments but still talked about court life in their lyrics using the dialect of their own time. Oh and also they could kill you, don't test them. Basically Ezio Auditore's favourite band
Yes, L'amor Carnale ("Fleshly love") is about sex, but considered what I told you about them before, you can guess they put it more... Elegantly than say, Mötley Crüe and sleaze rock bands from the 80s 😂😂😂
*inhales deeply* now, how can I describe how much I love these boys. They're the equivalent of both having a nervous breakdown and shitposting on main at the same time. Their sound say Bring Me the Horizon but their lyrics say Children of Bodom. You laugh the whole time hearing the singer talking bullshit, but then he'd just scream something that hits you so hard you need to sit down and think about life, as if you were at a party and you were having the time of your life and idk getting drunk tits and dick out and getting head by that hot guy you always had a crush on, and all of a sudden the alarm goes off and you snap out of it realizing that oh you were just dreaming and you remember that you actually don't have any friends and the dude you thirst for has a girlfriend already. These rats from Verona's sewers are one of the few reasons that make me feel proud of where I come from. The only people who know about them are me, my best friend who introduced them to me, and probably their aunts and I wish they were known by SO MANY MORE people and that they had the success they deserved before they split up after such a short timespan of activity. Gone, but never forgotten 😔✊
"Dr. Bepis and Mr. Aids" is a very, very long piece (lasts about 9 minutes) but it is, in my opinion, the one that represents what Umberto Emo is all about the most. it's more of a rage filled medley, where they put all their drabbles and a lot of throwbacks to their other songs together. some of my favorite verses (that can be translated) include:
Datemi un sogno, un sogno banale/ tagliamoci un dito e facciamoci male (trad. "Give me a dream, a mundane dream / let's cut our fingers and let's hurt ourselves"),
Questa è la storia del cavallo omofobo, trottava al galoppo con in culo un microfono / Questa è la storia di Frate Agostino, girava nei bagni e ti offriva un pompino (trad. "This is the story of the horse that was a homophobe, he'd trot and gallop with in the ass a microphone / This is the story of Brother Augustine, he'd skulk in bathrooms and offer you a blowjob"),
Scusatemi per tutto questo, scusatemi ma non ci riesco / E in fin dei conti è colpa mia, in fin dei conti è colpa tua, in fin dei conti non importa / E domani siamo sabbia. (trad. "Forgive me for all of this, forgive me but I can't help it / And in the end it's my fault, in the end it's your fault, in the end it doesn't matter / And tomorrow we'll be sand."),
Io ho mangiato sassi per anni, senza sapere che gusto avessero/ Masticavo i miei stessi denti, privandomi del desiderio / Travolto dai ricordi, come sabbia in questo tempo (trad. "I have been eating rocks for years, without knowing their taste / I've been chewing my own teeth, depriving myself from the desire / Overwhelmed by memories, like sand of this time")
or the self depreciating, passive aggressive Sono ancora triste, quindi uso parole difficili tipo sesquipedale /Che schifo la punteggiatura (trad. I'm still sad, so I use complicated words, like sesquipedal / punctuation sucks)
and the timeless chorus Mario Giordano sei un rettiliano (trad. "Mario Giordano you're a reptilian" I don't know honestly what statement they wanted to make with this other than it rhymes lmao)
which as you can see, range from being completely demented to blasphemous to become a punch in the gut to complete and utter nonsense (and it's only one song!), but the majority of their verses could be simply translated as [angry italian unintelligible screaming] (which, honestly, is a mood anyway). I urge everyone who sees this to go listen to them (especially my italian mutuals) even if you can't understand shit of what they're talking about. I'm sure their music will transcend language barriers
Btw sorry not sorry for the wall of text, they just mean so much to me and I could write a 56 pages long essay about them and their lyrics 😭😭😭 other songs I recommend are Il fumo uccide ma è parte del piano ("Smoking kills but it's part of the plan", opening with "It's raining shit"), Barbara D'Urto (a play on words on an italian talk show host's name Barbara D'Urso,"urto" means bump, clash, collision, but it's also a way to describe someone who rubs you the wrong way), Qvando Cera Lvi (don't worry, the title is nothing but a mockery of the fascist slogan and the lyrics is the epitome of the demented) and idk, everything else they have really, which can all be found on YouTube
i included them almost exclusively because i love the pun they made with their name. as every good punk band out there, they remind you how much society sucks and that you should go against its rules no matter what while making you bang your head to their tunes
"Total disgust" is not only a mood and a critique to politicians and society's consumerism's ways in general, but also a punk rock banger from 1992:
Probably the only people from Milan I wouldn't hate on sight, "Gaelic Fury" is a folk metal band who I can't say for sure they have true Gaelic origins, but they sure wish they were born in that time (and if you didn't know, believe me when I tell you this particular metal subgenre is very big in Italy, especially in the northern regions). Their music will take you to distant places forgotten by man, and Davide is the creature of the enchanted forest who'll whisper his land's secrets to you through his lyrics
Diluvio ("Flood") is an inspired and evoking ballad about a man who loves rain and thunderstorms (can relate) in all its forms and at the same time an ode to the marvel of Nature when it unleashes its fury (I could write another whole essay about this song but I'm gonna restrain myself)
Other bands worth checking out bc tumblr doesn't let me add more than ten pics and ten audios in one post: Negrita (I define them the Italian Red Hot Chili Peppers, very chill they put you in a good mood), Litfiba (hard rock for dads), Linea 77 (another important punk rock band from the 90s), Caparezza (a peculiar man, it's hard to describe him lmao but he's a great songwriter and always tries to evolve his style), Rhapsody of Fire (inventors of Epic Power Metal. It's like Power Metal but with more dragons and Christopher Lee)
To anyone who joined me in this journey and stuck around till the end and checked out all the artists:
I could kiss you rn I'd love to know which one was your favorite and talk about them!!
To anyone who read about only some of them and didn't listen to any or just some of the songs:
I really hope you liked those you checked out!! Tell me what you think and don't be afraid to ask me about the lyrics or something!!
To anyone who couldn't handle the whole 34-pages-long essay and just scrolled past this post/couldn't be bothered to read my ramblings and just went for the songs:
even only for your patience alone, sorry for clogging your dash with my bullshit lmao (not only with this post, just in general) and I hope you have a great day!!
@ italian mutuals feel free to add more!! Let's make the italian indie rock scene more known to the world!! Unleash the mammamia spirit ❤️❤️❤️
romaincrisis
germansingergirl
dailybridgerton
tangentwithtanner
janainaart
snowghoul
