The band's debut full-length release.
Quite why a Rock band from Italy would name themselves after a woman who attempted to assassinate Benito Mussolini in 1926 is beyond me, but they were originally called Last Vegas, and were formed in 2007.
‘American Circus’ is the band’s debut full-length release, but I have to admit I’m not exactly blown away by it. The band’s sound takes in everything from Euro-Metal to Post-Grunge to Sleaze Rock and hints of Pop-Punk and Goth, but rather than being an interesting amalgamation it just comes across as directionless. And while opener ‘Go Ahead’, ‘American Circus’ and ‘Game Of Sorrow’ are listenable enough, they’re just too bland to entice you back. The likes of ‘Original Sinner’, ‘Parasite’ and ‘Your Balls On Fire’ suffer from rather banal lyrics, and the ballads ‘Forget About The Rain’ and ‘From The Moon To Your Feet’ are rather dull. And the Heavy Metal version of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Superstition’ is just unforgiveable.
There’s no doubt that the two guitarists are highly talented, and the rhythm section is as tight as Justin Hawkins’ underpants, but the weak link here is vocalist Matthew Brodsty, with his slightly gruff delivery and limited range. A wealth of decent material would possibly hide this shortcoming, unfortunately there is little in the way of that here that I can recommend.
By the way, as a selling point I was asked to point out that Violet Gibson have collaborated with Italian heavyweight wrestler Sexy G, and the track ‘Original Sinner’ will be his entrance theme. Unfortunately I hate wrestling too, so that does little to change my opinion.
Ant Heeks
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