Stiv Canterelli was once leader of Satellite Inn, an Italian band who signed to MoodFood Records in 1999 after Whiskeytown left that label. This album shows that he has lost none of his No Depression commitment.
Together with The Silent Strangers - Fabrizio Gramellini on bass and Antonio Canterelli on drums - he has produced a fine record where traditional blues/folk/country rubs shoulders with a feisty punk attitude.
The songs were recorded at home by Roberto Villa in various locations in Emilia-Romagna, including an abandoned church near Forlì, with the aim of capturing a live sound.
The tracks were then mixed and mastered by Petrushka Morsink in The Netherlands; she also contributes "space guitar, ethereal vocals & harmonica from hell".
From the album title you might expect an even balance of light and shade but, in fact, darkness easily wins the day.
It closes with Dark Time Blues and there are plenty of bleak moments elsewhere; on Annie, Canterelli sings the chilling line "I never had much compassion and I never will".
Under The Red Star runs the risk of glamorising the terrorist campaign of the Red Brigade although, apparently, the song is introduced at shows as being about "fighting for things you believe in, even if you know they're wrong"
The grungey, punk influence is most obvious on Deconstruction, where fuzz guitars back Canterelli's anguished cry of "I don't know where I've lost you" and on Mahogany Jones with its psychedelic, 'we're a garage-band' energy.
With six of the nine tracks lasting just two or three minutes, the raw, no frills quality makes for a very impressive album.
