Tommi e Gli Onesti Cittadini – Uno ad Uno – Review

Tommi e gli onesti cittadini (Tommy and the honest citizens) are a super-group formed by artists that are already notable and respected in the italian underground punk scene like the Skruigners, Pornoriviste e Franziska. What shall I say about the third album of a supergroup? Excellent! Uno ad Uno (One by One) traces the boundaries between reality and virtual reality, it looks like it was written by the hand of a punk rock alien civilization far million of years from the earth (like the song “Ossa” “Bones” is suggesting – … gli alieni ci studiano… the aliens are studying us), it is straightforward, it’s not the usual album that you are used to listen to in the streamline channels, every single track has a well defined sense of the melody that easily captures your attention at the first attempt. The album starts with the first single that has anticipated the album release with a videoclip “Non c’e’ nessuno”.
The song could be interpreted in numerous ways like most of the band’s lyrics, I personally see it like the isolation of the italian citizen, forgotten by the institutions, by the state, a character that lost the right to speak and as a consequence he has no voice, he does not exist like the refrain quotes (“Non C’e’ Nessuno” che gioca con me – There is nobody here that wants to play with me). Well, I would personally play with them, every single track in this album is pure orgasm for my ears. Among the favorites besides “Non c’e’ nessuno”: Stagioni, Novecento and La Vita Spinge – Life pushes you. Right, because according to Tommi e Gli Onesti Cittadini, life pushes you, she is the one to decide, she attacks you when you don’t expect it and we get beaten by it. I find it very difficult not to reflect ourselves in the lyrics of this album. Who among us has never been beaten by life?. It’s interesting the rhythmic section of “Novecento” that with a look back at the past it quotes the London Calling of The Clash. The track sums up the ‘900s, a century full of tragic events and ends up stating that “la festa è finita e basta” – “The party is done, fullstop!”. Well I’d say that the party starts again with this third album.

TRACKLIST WITH RATINGS:
01 – Non c’è nessuno – 8,5
02 – Splendido e Nuovo – 7,5
03 – Stagioni – 8,5
04 – Ossa . 9
05 – Dove Mi Metti – 8
06 – La Vita Spinge – 9,5
07 – Una A sulla Maglietta – 8
08 – Novecento – 9

ALBUM RATING: 9

KEY SENTENCE:
“Sento che spinge, mi spinge un po’ dove voglio
e se non scelgo
il posto e lei che lo sceglie,
la vita spinge
ti spinge un po’ dove vuoi
e ad ogni passo ti spinge avanti di due” – La Vita Spinge

Reviewed by R.D.