Upside Upside LP
Now this is one for the true lovers of Italian hardcore, those who can pretend to speak Italian because they can half-pronounce the titles of WRETCHED songs and show off at dinner parties by pointing out that NERORGASMO actually rose from the ashes of BLUE VOMIT. Avoid these boring bastards at all costs. UPSIDE can barely be considered a classic band of the amazing Italian hardcore punk scene of the time—I was familiar with the band for their delightfully snotty Nato Per Sofrire EP from 1983, but never took the time to properly listen to the rest of their discography. The aforementioned EP was a perfect example of an Italian take on the vintage UK82 sound, and this demo originally recorded in 1981 is (a little) more versatile, with songs convincingly exhibiting darker overtones and others sounding like furious proto-hardcore. I have to say the production is, well, raw, if not rough or non-existent, so that it will appeal to the aesthetes of old-school hardcore music (those who do not fear bands who could not tune their instruments but still did solos), but it might alienate other audiences. There are some great, catchy songs on the demo, reminiscent of CANI or even NABAT for the punkness and the aforementioned BLUE VOMIT for the eerier and darker influences. I personally love Italian hardcore, so I believe this record is important for two reasons: first, it is a testimony of one of the most powerful hardcore waves in punkstory, and this project matters because it is an archive, something that preserves our collective past because punk belongs to the punks. Second, because I just like, on a very primitive level, raw, snotty punk from Italy. I suppose the first reason makes me sound a bit more clever, though.