Lucertulas

"Tragol de Rova" CD

Robotradio Records

Genre: post-hardcore, math-rock, noise

Aug 11 2008

Angular, noisy, and dense, Tragol de Rova rocks like a brick to the face, jerking along in a haze of flailing time signatures, heavy guitars, and exuberant vocals. At twenty-six minutes, this one zips by quite quickly but it certainly leaves a mark. Lucertulas is an Italian trio that cross-breeds noise with math-rock and post-hardcore to produce an utterly pulverizing sonic experience – in fact, this is more or less no-wave of the finest order, but matched with a rhythmic complexity that isn’t so commonplace in the genre. Information about the band is sparse, although that seems to add to the mystique; whether it’s rhythmic chaos in the vein of a more artsy Blood Brothers (“Partum,” “Tintinnio”) or more atmospheric noise (“6,” “On Rough Sea”), Tragol de Rova’s eight tracks exude coolness. And, hell, they even manage to make the thing somewhat melodic – not in a hum-in-the-shower sense, but more in an I-can-dig-it-but-my-neighbours-sure-can’t kind of way. Take a gander at the electrifying “7” to see the band at their most accessible. Tragol de Rova is a fun ride, but an intense one to be sure; migraine sufferers need not apply.

84%

youuuuuuuutube!: lucertulas live

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 8 tracks, distributed by the label, released 2008]