the MOJOMATICS

WHAIT A WHILE, 2008 Slowboat FilmsNO PLACE TO GO, 2006 Slowboat filmsRUMORE MAGAZINE (ITALY) 9/10 "Don't Pretend That You Know Me" La strana razza di recensori pedanti e didascalici non ci penserebbe due volte a definire questo terzo disco dei Mojomatics, “album della maturità”. E, bisogna ammetterlo, stavolta non avrebbe affatto torto. Il percorso musicale di Mojomatt e Davmatic è da manuale della rock band di base. L’esordio lungo del 2004 A Sweet Mama… era una scarica spaventosa di garage-punk centrifugata con del Coccolino r&b. Il seguito del 2006 Songs For Faraway Lovers s’inabissava nelle viscere del country e del folk-blues con piglio da speleologo freak. In mezzo una manciata di grandi singoli in rigoroso vinile e più di 200 concerti, di cui una buona metà fuori dai patri confini. A neanche cinque anni dalla nascita, siamo di fronte all’evidenza: la meravigliosa creatura veneta non solo ha già la patente saldamente in tasca, ma tutte le carte in regola per vincere il gran premio del r’n’r alternativo europeo. Se, infatti, i precedenti album hanno saziato i palati più fini dell’audience indie, con Don’t Pretend That You Know Me c’è n’è davvero per tutti i gusti. Gli invasati in beatle boot e lupetto nero saltelleranno come cretini sul groove circolare di Miss Me When I’m Gone per poi cadere come pere secche, trafitti dall’armonica di Mojomatt. Gli stressati 50/60enni col santino di Paul McCartney nel portafogli torneranno all’età puberale dietro all’orchestrazione blues-beatlesiana di Askin’ For A Better Circumstance. Gli orfani di certo rinascimento chitarristico anglofono smetteranno di portar fiori sulla tomba dei Libertines dopo aver fatto sobbalzare le casse con You Are Not Me (Fortunately) e Down My Spine. Il sorrisetto idiota dei frocetti in All Star, jeans attillati e t-shirt a righine si trasformerà nel ghigno fintamente stupido di Jonathan Richman e di tutti gli altri eroi del power pop dei ’70 (She Loves). Datemi retta: non bisogna pretendere di conoscere i Mojomatics, ma è un dovere provarci. Manuel Graziani SMASHIN' TRANSISTOR (USA) "Down my Spine" 7" [...]Both songs bring a swing and a hook like if Brian Wilson only lost half his mind and kicked Mike Love out 20 years before the regular world found out he was a total dick and decided all that time spent in the studio was time wasted so he stripped down the band to some bare essentials and went on tour with the Troggs as the opening act. MAXIMUM ROCK N' ROLL (USA) Two tunes in and i'm hooked. one bad---and there's only two of them---that could almost rival THE REIGNING SOUND in songwriting brillance. Injecting some infectious '60s whiteboy R' n ' B such as THE PRETTY THINGS, with the tambourine folk of, let's say, MOUSE AND THE TRAPS, with some raucous Delta blues an Atlantic soul. Christ, these boys can write them, play them, and sing them---retro without being, um, retro, folk without being cheesy, and soul without being another one of those soul/punk outfits. All brought together by their understanding of how to write a simple but great pop tune. DAMN BEST RECORD I'VE HEARD IN A LONG LONG TIME! NOW WAVE ZINE (USA) The Mojomatics, one of my two or three favorite bands in the world, return with a brand-new album. And boy, it sure doesn't disappoint! Fans will delight in ten new original songs plus rearrangements of old traditionals "Stealin'" and "Hard Travelling". Leave it to two young Italian fellows to pump new life into the sounds of mid-20th Century southern Americana. The Mojos heap together hillbilly blues, old country, folk, and bluegrass, inject it with the melody of British Invasion pop, and fire it all out with the breakneck energy of the best garage/punk/rock n' roll. The duo's playing is still tight and electric (sounds like there's five of 'em, not just two!), and Matt's songwriting has advanced from damn great to unfuckingbelievable. There's something slightly magical about these cats' trip - they take all of these well-tread musical elements and somehow make them sound as fresh, current, and exciting as any new thing the hipster pundits are selling these days. Song after song on this album is catchier than the clap and guaranteed to get you smiling, dancing, and feeling totally great about life. I just think these guys are amazingly talented - as gifted a twosome as you'll find in the rock world today. Pound for pound, you won't find another group with more soul in its heart and fire in its gut. And by all accounts, they completely tear it up live. Come play the States, boys!