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1. Verückt –
2. Choppy –
Something about Berlin. In recent decades (I think, going back to the early 70s), Berlin has become something of a mecca for artists and bands who want to venture outside the comfort zone. It’s been getting a lot of attention lately and it’s been a springboard for what is shaping up to be, an immense reservoir of inspiration.
Circolo Vizioso is a duo who have been making waves of late and have released (as of yesterday) their debut album, Verrückt which came out officially yesterday. Here are two tracks from that album, Verückt and Choppy.
Diving into the Circolo Vizioso’s bio, I came up with this:
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.
It’s suggested you run over to their https://ilcircolovizioso.bandcamp.com/ and pick up their album and earlier ep’s – well worth the expenditure – they are also on Spotify and Apple Music if you’re into downloads.
Just do it.
