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The Thin White Line / Ballad For My Little Hyena / The Ending Is The Greater / There's Many Ways / White Widow / Fresh Flesh / Sparkle / Desire Froze Here / The Bed / Judas' Blood / Andrea's Birthday

ONE LITTLE INDIAN
TPLP705CD

RELEASED>October 9th 2006

You can perhaps count the number of great rock bands to have emerged from Italy on one hand, Afterhours, though a band to add to that list, a gothic drenched five piece who make music that manages to sound like the Bad Seeds without Nick Cave merged with Echo And The Bunnymen, with a little Led Zeppelin and Kyuss thrown in for good measure.
New album BALLADS FOR LITTLE HYENAS is actually the bands sixth record, following five critically acclaimed efforts back home in Italy, though this being the first to be sung in English and released over here. Produced and played on by Afghan Whigs and Twilight Singers mainman Gregg Dulli, BALLADS FOR LITTLE HYENAS is a record that has his fingerprints all over it, recalling the brooding brilliance of the Whigs finest material.
A song like THERE'S MANY WAYS in particular pays tribute to their producer, the melancholic guitar squalls and moody vocals adding an air of gothic splendour to proceedings. Opening song THE THIN WHITE LINE finds lead singer Manuel Agnelli pitching his voice between the brooding intensity of Ian McCulloch blending with Dulli before launching into a high pitched falsetto for the songs impressive choruses. BALLAD FOR MY LITTLE HYENA injects a little fuzzy guitar magic to the mix, guest guitarist and PJ Harvey collaborator John Parish lending his hand to proceedings as Agnelli delivers a gravel throated howl; the full frontal rock out of THE ENDING IS THE GREATER finding Afterhours channelling The Stooges by way of Kyuss and Led Zeppelin, a powerful, throbbing rock beast.
Contributing to songwriting duties Greg Dulli is all over WHITE WIDOW, from the New Orleans gothic soul of the insidious melodies to the insistent tribal drum beats, the brooding majesty of FRESH FLESH also sees Dulli as co-writer, a song that could well have been an outake from the Afghan Whigs masterpiece Gentlemen back in the mid nineties. SPARKLE sees Marcus Agnelli delivering a falsetto croon worthy of Thom Yorke against a post-rock shimmer worthy of Sigur Ros, lines like "demons at my side/keep me warm at night/they make sure that/I will never be alone" adding to the moody atmosphere.
DESIRE FROZE HERE manages to sound like T-Rex's Twentieth Century Boy by Way of Led Zeppelin's Kashmir whilst closing number ANDREA'S BIRTHDAY is a doom ridden slice of gothic melodrama that sees Marcus Agnelli climaxing with the line "I will live on", a sense of hope and optimism amongst all the darkness.
BALLADS FOR LITTLE HYENAS is a dark and brooding masterpiece, a record that drips with gothic majesty and pitch black splendour and an album that marks out Afterhours as a band worth obsessing over. Stunning.

With endorsement from the likes of REM and Mercury Rev, it is easy to see why AFTERHOURS are set to be Italy's biggest export.
Over the last decade, AFTERHOURS' loyalty to emotionally driven performances and powerful song-writing, has won them the respect of critics and audiences alike. From what initially began as a word of mouth following, AFTERHOURS soon started to attract the attention and acclaim of the music industry receiving countless awards, notably in 1997, with inclusion of only their second album in the influential Italian music magazine Mucchio Selvaggio's 'Top 10 Italian albums of all time' award, and later in 2002 as they took the prestigious Italian Music Award's prize for best song-writing.
Remarkably however, while their reputation became established and their shows began to sell out, AFTERHOURS always retained a close relationship to their craft, concentrating evermore so on their impassioned blend of music, never afraid to return to and reinvent their own special approach to song-writing.
Central to this unique approach is front man Manuel Agnelli's presence, not only as a musician, but also as a respected writer and producer in Italy.
Agnelli's involvement with both music and literary festivals throughout the country, has earned him high regard as a valued member of the Italian artistic community, constantly engaging himself with the works of others, John Parish (PJ Harvey's writing partner) and Hugo Race (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds), to name two among many.
It is within this artistic need for exchange and influence that AFTERHOURS'
innovative sound finds its place.
Probably the most important, and celebrated, of Agnelli's collaborative partnerships came early in 2004 when Greg Dulli's, The Twilight Singers, joined AFTERHOURS in Italy for a five date co-headline tour. The concerts sparked a relationship which, over the next year, saw the two contributing greatly to each others work, with Agnelli playing guitar on The Twilight Singers' esteemed 2004 album She Loves You and Dulli acting as a catalyst for new AFTERHOURS' material written around the same time.
What began as a relationship based on a mutual belief in music, found its full maturity early in 2005 when One Little Indian Records (home of The Twilight Singers) signed AFTERHOURS to release their new album.
With five critically acclaimed albums released in their native language, AFTERHOURS are now set to reach beyond their borders, recording their sixth album Ballads For Little Hyenas (One Little Indian) in both English and Italian.
BFLH, tells a story of absence and loss; "Wrap your arms around the one thing you can never touch" sings Manuel Agnelli in the album's title track, but always, it seems, with a hold on what remains and where that leads:
"Soon you'll fade away / Life has just begun for you". BFLH searches for and implores understanding, but never acceptance.
AFTHERHOURS won't come to you - you will come to them.

GERMI (Mescal>1995)
Nadir
Germi
Plastilina
Dentro Marilyn
Siete proprio dei pulcini
Giovane coglione
Ossigeno
Ho tutto in testa ma non riesco a dirlo
Strategie
Vieni dentro
Posso avere il tuo deserto?
Pop (una canzone pop)
Mio fratello è figlio unico
Porno quando non sei intorno

HAI PAURA DEL BUIO? (Mescal>1997)
Hai paura del buio?
1.9.9.6.
Male di miele
Rapace
Elymania
Pelle
Dea
Senza finestra
Simbiosi
Voglio una pelle splendida
Terrorswing
Lasciami leccare l'adrenalina
Punto G
Veleno
Come vorrei
Questo pazzo pazzo mondo di tasse
Musicista contabile
Sui giovani d'oggi ci scatarro su
Mi trovo nuovo

NON E' PER SEMPRE (Mescal>1999)
Milano circonvallazione esterna
Non è per sempre
La verità che ricordavo
Oppio
Non si esce vivi dagli anni '80
Baby fiducia
Tutto fa un po' male
Superenalotto
L'inutilità della puntualità
L'estate
Bianca
Oceano di gomma
Cose semplici e banali

SIAM TRE PICCOLI PORCELLIN - LIVE 2001 CD 1 - Live CD 2 - Live acustico Germi (Mescal>2001) Siete proprio dei pulcini Rapace Male di miele L'estate Non si esce vivi dagli anni '80 Simbiosi Sui giovani d'oggi ci scatarro su Dea L'inutilità della puntualità Lasciami leccare l'adrenalina Questo pazzo pazzo mondo di tasse Ossigeno Dentro Marylin Cose semplici e banali La sinfonia dei topi (inedito) Strategie Posso avere il tuo deserto?
Non è per sempre
Punto G
Male di miele
Simbiosi
Bianca
Tutto fa un po' male
Oceano di gomma
Pelle
1.9.9.6.
Senza finestra
Dentro Marilyn
State trooper
Voglio una pelle splendida

QUELLO CHE NON C'E' (Mescal>2002)
Quello che non c'e'
Bye bye Bombay
Sulle labbra
Varanasi baby
Non sono immaginario
La gente sta male
Bungee jumping
Ritorno a casa
Il mio ruolo

BALLATE PER PICCOLE IENE (Mescal>2003)
La sottile linea bianca
Ballata per la mia piccola iena
E' la fine la più importante
Ci sono molti modi
La vedova bianca
Carne fresca
Male in polvere
Chissà com'è
Il sangue di Giuda
Il compleanno di Andrea

BALLADS FOR LITTLE HYENA (One Little Indian>2006)
The thin white line Ballad for my little hyena The ending is the greater There's many ways White widow Fresh flesh Sparkle Desire froze here The bed Judah's blood Andrea's birthday

Email>

LINKS
Afterhours>

Afghan Whigs
The Twilight Singers
Echo And The Bunnymen

Review date: August 2006