Bar Italia spent their first few years as a band quite literally defying identification. There were no names or photographs attached to the two albums they released on Dean Blunt’s World Music label.
This only deepened the enigmatic qualities of a group putting out music indebted to the indie rock canon — The Cure, Slowdive, and Sonic Youth are clear influences — on a label more renowned for its experimental output.
It was a confusing introduction that raised many questions, chiefly who is making these fuzzy lovelorn guitar jams with interlocking boy-girl vocals?
And, in the classic Blunt sense, were they just taking the piss? 2023 has provided many of the answers those early adopters were looking for.
Read more on thefader.com