Sonic Daze - First Coming

I first heard of Italy's garage combo Sonic Daze because bassist/lead singer Massimiliano (Max) came to

Bloomington, Indiana and decided that it was time for the Gizmos to reunite, and he managed to pull off this unlikely event and even played bass with the band! In the course of hangin'n'rockin' of course he mentioned his main project back in the old country and gave me a copy of this, their new (only?) CD, assuming that I would dig it. And right he was!

This is a rockin' slab of garage punk'n'roll - definitely plenty of 60's influences but with heavier guitars and plenty of punk punch. Joined by Vittoriano on slashing lead guitar, Serena on buzzsaw rhythm and Giuseppe on frantically poundin' drums, they blaze through this all-too-short 6 song CD. Hints of punk/garage like DMZ mix with poppier punk like the Boys and tons of crazed high energy.

"Hear Me Calling" has some wild riffs and a cool strart'n'stop groove that reminds me of something - maybe a Teenage Head tune? - that I'm can't put my finger on, but it's still all their own. A rawer Psychotic Youth comes to mind in "When the Sun" with its harmonies and backing vocals and "Amorality" flies along Max's basslines with an absurd amount of intensity. Appropriately dedicated to the Barracudas, "So Many Colours" isn't quite as manic, though still mighty rockin' and has even more melody and harmonies and damn-near bubblegum (in a good way) progressions. Man, almost everything sounds as if you should have heard it before, even though you know that you haven't, like the crazily catchy violence of "Come Back Tomorrow" and the closer "Get Out of the Way", another perfect mix of 60's garage and 70's punk.

Well, now I've got another reason to get back to Italy one of these days, since I doubt that the Daze will be touring America any time soon! Great, fun record!