Blues as a genre is not just about tunes and melodies, but also a medium for the deepest emotions humans feel, such as sorrow, despair, passion and anger. Blues rock has created mixes able to burst with an unexpected energy. This is exactly what is provided with “Son of dust”, the new Movie Star Junkies album.
Movie Star Junkies hails from Turin, Italy, and it introduces itself with the most explosive mix you’d imagine, blending in punk and blues, with some hints of country-punk (latest Social Distortion). This mix leads to a garage-esque rockabilly sound, provided by this five-piece since 2006. After the split with Buzz Aldrin (Italian new wave/punk band) released in 2011, the band follows the same pattern of their previous release “A poison tree”, creating a dense and dusty sound, in which distortion and post-punk-oriented tracks coexist with the most melancholic pseudo-ballads (“The Damage is Done”). The use of four different kinds of guitar (slide, fuzz, steel, acoustic and electric) is the first hint of an diversity that never loses its central thread, the blues. From the hoarse Tom Waits spoken word to the scratching blues of Nick Cave’s Birthday Party (“Cold Stone Road”), blues seems to play with different genres and influences. Southern rock and rockabilly seem to be another interesting part of the recipe, like the Dan Sartain-esque “This Love Apart” and “Son of dust” prove. Movie Star Junkies seem to take 50s rock and parody it with falsetto and acoustic guitars (“A Long Goodbye”), but also celebrate it in some anger outbursts and sensual tunes like “How it All Began” and “End of the Day”. Interesting is also the jazz-lounge atmosphere created by contrabass, with tunes that seem a perfect device to highlight the discords that shape “Son of Dust”.
The beastly self-destructive power of blues matches with the immediacy of punk, creating a suggestion of dissonances that make it so imperfect and become unique.
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Movie Star Junkies are:
Stefano Isaia – vocals, keyboard | Caio Montoro – drums, percussions | Vincenzon Marando – electric/steel/slide guitar | Alberto Dutto – acoustic/fuzz guitar, contrabass | Emanuele Baratto – bass guitar
Label: Outside Inside Records
Tracklist
These woods have ears | In an autumn made of gold | Son of the dust | Cold stone road | The damage is done | There’s a storm | A long goodbye | This love apart | End of the day | How it all began
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