Lucertulas

"Tragol de Rova" CD

Robotradio Records

Genre: post-hardcore, math-rock, noise

Aug 11 2008

Angular, noisy, and dense, Tragol de Rova rocks like a brick to the face, jerking along in a haze of flailing time signatures, heavy guitars, and exuberant vocals. At twenty-six minutes, this one zips by quite quickly but it certainly leaves a mark. Lucertulas is an Italian trio that cross-breeds noise with math-rock and post-hardcore to produce an utterly pulverizing sonic experience � in fact, this is more or less no-wave of the finest order, but matched with a rhythmic complexity that isn�t so commonplace in the genre. Information about the band is sparse, although that seems to add to the mystique; whether it�s rhythmic chaos in the vein of a more artsy Blood Brothers (�Partum,� �Tintinnio�) or more atmospheric noise (�6,� �On Rough Sea�), Tragol de Rova�s eight tracks exude coolness. And, hell, they even manage to make the thing somewhat melodic � not in a hum-in-the-shower sense, but more in an I-can-dig-it-but-my-neighbours-sure-can�t kind of way. Take a gander at the electrifying �7� to see the band at their most accessible. Tragol de Rova is a fun ride, but an intense one to be sure; migraine sufferers need not apply.

84%

youuuuuuuutube!: lucertulas live

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 8 tracks, distributed by the label, released 2008]