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Recorded in only two days and lasting for just 25 minutes, this second LP by Italian trio The Candies is hardly built for hanging around. A short, spiky blast of masked hostility, this record shares a love of garage rock equal to much of the music springing out of East-Coast America right now. Thankfully, despite containing that now almost obligatory 'The' in their band title, The Candies appear filled with a genuine fiery passion rather than merely fashion-led posturing and re-hashed ideals from yesteryear. Claiming to be punk rock in the spirit of The Fall or Fugazi, this band have shared stage space with 90 Day Men and L7. Such experiences clearly shine through here.



A claustrophobic tumble that threatens to boil over but never quite does so, 'Dense Waves...' at times comes across like Girls Against Boys, or even Interpol minus that New York band's frozen Bunnymen fixations. Abrasive but melodic, The Candies' crescendo is based upon the constant percussive barrage of Giordano Rizzato, around which taught chord changes are strung. The finest moments however, occur when they change attack slightly. 'Device Power' crackles with static interference while best of all is 'No Edge', a slower, menacing beast that eventually leaps from its caged position. Perhaps lacking a true identity of its own, this is still far more memorable than much of the so called 'new rock revolution'. With The Candies, it's the bitterest pill that tastes so sweet.

Ian Fletcher
January-February 2003

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