What does a band do when they are no longer allowed to stand on stage because of this Corona virus, which has paralyzed the entire country, all of Europe, and the whole world?
What does a band do that is basically at home on tour and has now been given two months of quasi house arrest, hardly allowed to leave their apartment?
What does a band do when they live in a country where the Corona virus has wreaked particularly heavy havoc, at least by European standards?
They make music!
Since they were basically locked up in their own four walls, it was of course not possible to go to a studio and make themselves comfortable there. However, modern technology makes it possible to create music even under modest conditions.
LOS FASTIDIOS turned necessity into virtue. Each band member had a smartphone, splitscreen, minimal instrumentation, and the recording was ready.
What started as an experiment, or as a form of therapy or creative processing of the lockdown, call it what you will, the band made these recordings available online, thus making them accessible to the whole world.
The world gladly accepted this offer, and so there was a new song to marvel at and listen to with casual regularity. Many fans of the band were thrilled and thanked the band for giving them strength during this difficult time. This encouraged the band to keep going, and a total of twelve songs came together. All these songs are still online and can be seen on platforms like YouTube.
The situation has improved, although it is still far from normality.
At least, LOS FASTIDIOS are back on tour, and now, thanks to high demand, these songs recorded under minimal conditions are available as vinyl, as a CD in a digipack with a booklet, or for digital purchase.
There are twelve songs, almost all of which are by LOS FASTIDIOS.
The recordings have not been further processed, so the listener can expect a rather minimalist listening experience. The recordings, due to their simplicity, remind one of recordings from 30, 40... maybe even 50 years ago. This fits wonderfully with the band's music. Punk rock has given way to old-school reggae and ska and 2-Tone.
The songs are wonderfully danceable and quickly bring a smile to your face. The songs lift your spirits and give you strength. One can easily recall how it was not long ago when we needed exactly this kind of music. Music that we still need now.
At the latest, when track 10 "It’s time" is sung...
it’s time to come back,
it’s time to be strong
it’s time to come back,
in the streets again.
you immediately want to lace up your shoes, go out on the street, dance, be together, and have fun together.
LOS FASTIDIOS have created a document of the times with this release, from a time that we hope to talk about in a few years as a very long time ago that we hope will never come again.
LOS FASTIDIOS show that melodies and songs can always work under minimal conditions if you know how to do it. The Italians know how!
