3. March 2014
Review: Faz Waltz – ‘Back On Mondo’
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| (Out Now) |
By Alle Royal
One more look at the black and white cover and the three mad scientists messing about a fuming pipe, and I’m there, imagining those fumes like an impending explosion of technicolor glam sounds that can be found in the grooves of “Back On Mondo”, the third full length outing from Italian hard bubblegum glam maestros, Faz Waltz; brainchild of Mr. Faz La Rocca, singer/guitarist/frontman and responsible for all lyrics and music, this is a band that, together with Giuda, could rise the bar to a new level of excellence in the garage rock worldwide cause and, watch out, they’re both Italians!
If their previous effort “Life On The Moon” sounded intriguing and promising of great things to come, on “Back On Mondo” every element of their sound seems to finally fall into place, giving us a collection of killer tunes from start to finish; I don’t know what’s in those Italian cornflakes, but there’s some magic for sure if every time Faz and pals shake those boxes a little gem of irresistible pop rock flavour drops out.
For sure, this time the band seems more focused on the melodic catchiness of the songs, refining the craft of producing two and a half minutes long pop candies, and leaving aside the more experimental approach of some of the older songs; add a premier league quality in the artistic direction of both the graphics and the visual offering, and we are in the presence of a potential career defining album.
If bands like T-Rex and Slade clearly paved the way to the exhilarating final result, at the same time it’s obvious that the last thirty years of rock didn’t pass unnoticed for the trio, and the garage punk attitude of bands like The Datsuns and The Hives peers out in more than one case; as more complex harmonic progressions do, like in the Beatlesque “Wrong Side Of The Gun” or the marvelous “Clown On The Scene”, simply one of the best slow numbers I’ve heard in ages.
Faz Waltz can rock you hard without overstepping on their distortion pedals, it’s a sixties sounding affair that doesn’t sound dated at all; it’s vital, colorful, vibrant with apparent simplicity but rich in subtle details that will make your foot stomping wild till exhaustion.