29-03-2024 Music 121

Onceweresixty - Loco Sunset Boulevard / Ghetto Blast Noise Machine

Onceweresixty - Loco Sunset Boulevard / Ghetto Blast Noise Machine

Indie rock trio Onceweresixty are back with the album 'Loco Sunset Boulevard / Ghetto Blast Noise Machine', created over a period of three years at Villa Albrizzi Marini, a magical place in the Venice countryside hills en route to the Alps. Having set up their studio on this 1400-villa property, owned by the Armenian Church, finally they can present this 8-track album (structured in two parts as a double EP).

The album is being released on CD and vinyl by Uglydog Records, together with Beautiful Losers and PrettyOK Records. Earlier, the band teased the lead track 'Don't Get Stuck' and latest single 'Pills', an adrenaline-infused song about the misguided use and abuse of psychotropic “medicine”.

Founded by Marco Lorenzoni (guitars, vocals and keyboards) and Luca Sella (drums, guitar and vocals), the duo began collaborating in 2001. Moving on from their original band MR60, they relaunched onto the music scene as Onceweresixty in 2018 after a 10-year hiatus, rounded out by the addition of Enrico Grando (keyboards and saxophone) shortly after their 2021 album 'The Flood'.

Marco Lorenzoni explains, "The Villa - an ongoing project of urban regeneration via art activism - is absolutely inspiring and amazing, and we’re glad to be part of it. Onceweresixty and our own label Uglydog Records have always been at the forefront of promoting the arts, supporting artists and creating social connections. This is our little Warhol Factory in the countryside."

Onceweresixty draws their roots back to an ancient tale about the ghost of a beatnik biker living in a broken toy keyboard. "Sometimes he takes control of our minds and makes us play strange weird songs," says Lorenzoni, who continues to tell the tale of the band's origin.

Exploring new musical territory, while still paying homage the sonic ghosts of such artists as Belle & Sebastian, Pavement, Morphine, Low, Herman Dune, Silver Jews and The Velvet Underground, the band's indie dream of the early 2000s ultimately gave way to colder and leaner sounds, better reflecting the current times.
 
As of March 22, the double EP 'Loco Sunset Boulevard / Ghetto Blast Noise Machine' will be available everywhere, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp, where it may also be obtained on vinyl and CD.


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