Circolo Vizioso - Verrückt
Kraut-inspired punk rock duo Circolo Vizioso presents their debut album 'Verrückt', an invigorating collection of tracks that channel a dystopian feeling of being stir crazy amidst an unjust society. Arriving four years after their 5-track 'Isolation' EP (2020), 'Verrückt' offers a powerful taste of high-intensity, lyric-driven post-punk, created mainly with electric violin, guitar and drums.
Hailing from Berlin, Circolo Vizioso is made up of Tony Scafidi (guitar, bass, drum, hi-hat, vocals) and Paul Geigerzaehler (violin, snare drum, vocals). The band plays abrasive, groovy punk music that is influenced, on the one hand, by the sound of 1990s New York, Chicago and Washington embodied in such bands as Fugazi, Blonde Redhead and Sonic Youth, and by the sound of early 80's and 90's Eastern German and Eastern European punk bands like Dezerter, Sandow and Schleimkeim on the other.
Earlier, the band presented the singles 'Walls', written in outrage over the Russian invasion in Ukraine, and 'Choppy', a high-octane song spawned from a bout of depression brought on by a failed love story.
"On 'Verrückt', we wanted to stretch the potential of the bass drum, the high hat, the snare and the tambourine to the utmost. As two people having to sing, play guitar and violin and drums at the same time makes it challenging to come up with refined and intricate drumming. But it does give us an interesting opportunity to exert a furious, instinctively ancestral and liberating beat on a few drums," says Tony Scafidi.
Paul Geigerzaehler adds, "We wanted to make an album that could express anger, frustration and disaffection against an unfair world and all the discomfort entwined therein. And we wanted to do it with direct and bare lyrics abrasive violin lines, fat distorted guitar solos and big fuzzy riffs. Yet we wanted people to let go of this batshit crazy world in a sort of self-exorcising dance, where one can go to sleep with the illusion of having sweat their demons off at least for the night."
Formed in March 2020 on a balcony in Friedrichshain, Berlin during the first Covid-19 lock-down, Circolo Vizioso was born as an attempt to keep art and music alive and to provide support to their neighbours during a time when no concerts were happening and no cinemas, museums or galleries were open. Circolo Vizioso is these artists' attempt to resist the isolation and the lack of social and human contact, as well as the hunger for music and art during this unusual time.
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As of March 1, the full 'Verrückt' album is available via Bandcamp, and from other fine music platforms, including Apple Music and Spotify. Circolo Vizioso's Paul Geigerzaehler has also just released his solo album 'KAPUTT' as a Bandcamp exclusive.
