Fondo Ibrido 

enne No. 39 – November 11, 1990

Underground Expressions of the Metropolis
New release by The Rest
The deep malaise of metropolitan life expressed by a band little known in Naples, but appreciated abroad

Lately, it has been fashionable to quote a line by a charming, bespectacled New York intellectual: "Everyone has models." 

Well, I wonder what models a band like The Rest could possibly refer to: Velvet Underground? Stooges? Suicide? Nico? Too reductive. In a period when most Neapolitan groups in circulation limit themselves to banal imitations of great contemporary and past rock figures (U2, Simple Minds, Doors, etc.), The Rest certainly possess the virtue of originality. The covers of their LPs (produced by Energeia, a small record label that releases exclusively on tape) are filled with anonymous faces drawn in black and white, or, in the case of "Strange Laughs", their latest LP, photos of anonymous concrete blocks. After all, their music drips with identity-less metropolitan suburbs, but going deeper one discovers an explosive charge of anxiety and frustration. 

It is a drive determined by the static and often pressing rhythms dictated by the drum machine (a flaw, this one, unfortunately not minor, because while on one hand it is perfectly functional to the music, on the other it gives it a vague taste of technological coldness) and by the bass lines (Renato Capponcelli), but above all by the strange and appreciable overlapping of an apparently subdued voice (Enzo Fattorusso) and a harsh, distorted guitar (Ciro Fattorusso).

Anxiety and fears are even more evident in the lyrics, because... "the children become old and the old people become children in an endless death game" and no one seems free to express themselves, but only to unconsciously obey alien orders that force you to fill a role, to play a part, and never to push yourself outside of it. 

And it is precisely in this overflowing anxiety, in the absence of hope and illusion, that lies the limit of The Rest and, at the same time, their international character. This lineup has encountered many difficulties from its birth in 1984 until today in finding spaces to express themselves and people willing to listen to them, ultimately finding themselves naked and bewildered in the face of existence; yet, amidst absolute general indifference, they managed to make themselves heard outside national borders. Completely devoid of geographical references in their music, interpreting the oppressions, despairs, and existential nothingness of the metropolitan environment in an absolutely negative light, The Rest managed to attract the attention of a Welsh indie label, Raintape, which included them in a self-produced compilation released in the United Kingdom.

Now this "cheerful" lineup has almost decided to sing its swan song, and in doing so, they recorded tracks for an Energeia compilation. In addition to them, it features Veleni Tedeschi and C.F. and the T.A.C.—lineups that, under different names, hide the very same members of The Rest—with the emblematic title Scar.Na. (Scar means sfregio in English, and Na is the exact abbreviation for Naples).

Well! I wonder what hidden motives push our group toward a new recording—or rather, tape-recording—experience, given Energeia's peculiarity, if out of an excess of honesty toward themselves and others they have abolished the words "hope" and "future" from their vocabulary.

"Children haven't got dreams, maybe wishes, not dreams.

Those come later, they get'em in your head and feed'em just like they fatten pigs. Being something..." (The Rest).

Alberto De Rosa

THE REST

a story written all at once on an electric summer evening.

I am deeply connected to the sound of Rest and what they represent for the Neapolitan music scene. Throughout these years of battles, they have objectively never seemed defeated to me. Instead, they appeared wounded and beaten up, but always ready to rise again just like a phoenix. And believe me, that is already saying a lot, considering that many other Neapolitan bands gave up at the first difficulties—the very same challenges Rest encountered both the first time they took the stage and tried to record tracks, and the last time I saw them—without even asking themselves "why."

But the Fattorusso brothers are tough, and they have always followed through with whatever was buzzing in their minds. Stubborn, constant, consistent, and fed up with the state of their city's scene, they started playing in 1984 in a legendary Neapolitan rehearsal room. They worked their asses off, obsessively checking the clock so that those three hours of practice wouldn't fly by too quickly. This passion brought them to the brink of "addiction" from the moment Enzo realized that singing decently at home would have caused chaos among the neighbors...

I clearly remember the bolt from the blue that struck me on that typical, scorching summer evening in 1989. I confess I had never heard of them before. I was there to see other bands and, with a certain skepticism, I thought, "Bah, these new names, who knows who they are...", despite my reputation as a greedy consumer of everything lurking in the musical underground. I arrived late. Traffic had paralyzed half the city, as usual, and when I set foot in San Martino, they were the ones on stage.

The pulsating, exhaled beats of that famous, battered Mattel drum machine went straight to the heart. The intense, chanting obsessiveness—crafted with the help of relentless guitar abrasiveness and a distorted bass—rose up to highlight the rhythmic phrasing of a guy who, wearing a loose black shirt with unbuttoned sleeves, was morbidly glued to the microphone. It was as if he were confessing his anger and his stories to that device and to everyone present, making it clear that Rest existed. They knew they were offering something that would likely make many people turn up their noses—which is exactly what happened. In truth, their power was appreciated by only a few (the usual "good ones"...), while others stared at them as if to say, "Just look at what these guys are trying to pull off..." almost as if they were extraterrestrials who had suddenly dropped out of a spaceship.

Alright, a short personal aside. I was in a period of tireless letter-writing and phone calls with many bands (some we produced a bit later, others had just released records on Energeia). Feeling deep down that I wanted to approach that band after the gig—to get to know those guys who on stage weren't exactly the definition of swagger (were they shy? under the influence of sedatives? was it a calculated attitude? I asked myself all this and more)—was almost like telling myself, "Come on, you never go up to bands after shows, what are you doing now?". Practically, it was as if someone who just got a cast off their leg was trying to walk like before and coordinate their movements. In short, sometimes I get shy too...

But I felt I had to go and talk to those little guys. My first impression was that they were musically delivering a completely new sound to Naples. Here were three guys who didn't want to be clones of this or that band, playing rhythms that rose anxiously without ever finding a release. It was simply a continuous tension, and you never knew when it would end. That is why I thought of the strange song structures unique to Joy Division, the apparent sweetness of Nico and the Velvet Underground, or the obsessiveness of Suicide's tracks—yet all of this was done with a third-hand drum machine and by three souls who, in terms of emotional drive and instinctive power, felt like at least twice as many.

Enzo, the singer, never looked me in the eyes the whole time. He spoke in a low voice and seemed constantly to be looking for something beyond me, glancing around and drinking a beer. It was almost as if he expected a disappointment from his conversational partner, like, "Let's see what this guy is up to..." Instead, I convinced him—or at least I thought so—overcoming an attitude close to mistrust. I told him there was a reason why I had gone to them instead of any of the other four bands. I also convinced them because I liked the meticulousness with which they approached their musical "career." The fact that they had already recorded a tape showed they believed in what they were doing. Putting their first tracks on a demo, already almost fully "polished," was important.

I realized they had a very serious approach to music, and when, as time went on, I saw them crack jokes and mess around, it almost didn't seem real, considering the experience of that first cold encounter (I know, it was hot outside, but that's beside the point...). They told me they hated local bands from the bottom of their hearts because they were pretentious and put on the airs of people who had already "made it." They weren't wrong. The fact that the audience rejected them hadn't made them quit; on the contrary, it was a stimulus to push forward their ideas with conviction. Their musical unclassifiability was such that anyone who ever wrote about Rest rarely managed to pinpoint even their faint references and artistic ideals.

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. Rest haven't missed a beat, and through a few breaks due to external circumstances, along with all their official and unofficial releases, they have come to reflect on who they were and where they have been during this long musical journey. I still wonder if they were really in Naples, if they conceived their work in this city, and if we, the music consumers, were swept away by this typhoon with the intensity that Rest truly deserve.

Davide Morgera

THE REST

Same

Promotional Demo

After a couple of demos and a few compilations, the Neapolitan trio is looking to make a leap in quality and is now searching for a label to produce them. That is how I came across the promo of their new material: eight tracks spanning nearly 40 minutes of music. Listening to it confirms the good things we already knew about them. The perfect cross between dry, minimalist electronics and loud, enveloping feedback remains their defining characteristic—almost like a meeting between Suicide and The Jesus and Mary Chain (JMC). Furthermore, when they try to explore other territories, the result is the beautiful "Cancer Of The Night," a night-bound and deeply sorrowful ballad where Enzo Fattorusso's vocals can fully express his anguish. However, a prime example of THE REST's genre is the long final ride of "A Story," which captures the tension and pain present in every single one of the band's tracks better than any other. At the moment, record labels have turned them down, as this is admittedly a product with little commercial appeal, yet it is undoubtedly solid. In short, anyone with a bit of courage should step up. (F.S.)

Rock band looking for a drummer. Great sense of rhythm, no virtuosity needed, afternoon hours   Ciro

A STORY

Rubber N.N. Legs used to get incredibly bored when, while staying at home, he didn't have at least a liter of blended scotch whisky to drink; which was why, on that warm November evening, he was restlessly fidgeting in the bathtub along with two goldfish and a tortoise stubbornly convinced she was in the Caribbean. After an hour of growing tension, Rubber, just as he was starting a natural meltdown process in his brain, opened the door and went out, looking for an amusing diversion, possibly a perverse one.

The neon signs that lure in the gullible (and the gullibility) led him to the 'Criminal Square Fon', a notorious hangout where the finals of the festival "We are just a wrecking crew bored boys with nothing to" were underway—an event destined to launch promising, hopeful young amateur musicians into highly successful careers.

After the joyful maidens, armed with rotating hips and prosperous bosoms; after the Funeral March, who specialized in concerts inside unconsecrated cemeteries, and Peppino Rubicondo with the Knights in the Storm, The Rest were announced, as the ultimate remaining group fit for immediate arREST, reluctant to remain indistinct from the REST of the parade.

The cheerleader 

- scene -

Onto the stage steps a delightful maiden dressed in a tight blouse and a strictly pink pleated miniskirt, with two soft, huge woolen pom-poms tied to her wrists; she approaches the microphone, skipping along, and begins: "Hello, most respectable audience! I am the pom-pom girl, an exuberant musical lucky charm; I do the cheering and urge applause in favor of my protégés. Come on, then, I present to you the Rest, a group of good resolutions and estimable intentions.”

Behind the pom-pom girl, three dark figures appear, barely illuminated by the dim light. "Here they are, my ladies and gentlemen! Look at the signs of musical passion carved on their faces, look at their confident movements among the instruments; born to be truly wild! Come on, an ovation for the Rest!"

The pom-pom girl was oozing playfulness and hilarity from every pore. The Rest, for their part, began to look at her badly, really badly; perhaps they didn't appreciate the fact of being presented by an idiot of such caliber. "Come on, esteemed audience - she continued -, repeat with me! POM-POM, girl, POM-POM, POM-POM!, boys, POM-POM, POM-POM!, here are the Rest, POM-POM! - and, hopping around, she confidently waved the soft, huge pink pom-poms above her head - POM-POM, pom-pom girl! POM-POM, come on people, POM-POM!” Then, she began to improvise pirouettes with twists. It was at that point that the singer of the Rest (grim look) approached her and, with a sudden impulse, threw the pink-dressed maiden and the soft huge pom-poms off the stage. "What a pain in the ass", he thought. “Ouch, ouch... Pom-Pom... ouch... Pom...” was heard from below.

By doing so, the notorious Rest antagonized the audience of boys, disappointed at no longer being able to drool looking under the pom-pom girl's skirts: gaining, however, the sympathy of the girls and the homosexuals, gladdened by the elimination of a rival: "Anyway, she was bow-legged.", they murmured.

IN SEARCH OF ABRASION

Continuoustheguitarisfastexplodedheartwrenchingvibrations. tearing the thin wall of ice between those who wait to see and those who prepare to show.

“...this song that I am singing, I wrote it for a new war, a war against the people, against people like you...”

The cold voice, the cutting guitar, the pressing bass.

“...cancer of the night, erase these hopes that sink upon heaps of garbage...”

The air broken into a thousand darting vibrations; three figures in the shadows: “...I am the darkness, the cancer that consumes the days, all distorted souls, an endless white noise...”

“...sitting in a place full of mirrors, you fill your mouth, and you vomit, a part of me on the frozen floor, on the frozen floor...”

Faster and faster. Taciturn, the listener, surprised, surrenders.

“...my silences trace paths, you can explore one until you have learned HOW TO TOUCH HOW TO SCAR..."

HEART-WRENCHING-PAUSE

A leans on the microphone, B looks at the guitar, C tunes the bass; then, they all turn their gaze to the side of the stage: still and straight, the pink-dressed girl observes the scene seriously. With a slow and soft step, she approaches the three and laughs, laughs with a strange laughter.

B turns on a wild music; instigated, voice and bass erupt; the pom-pom girl begins to move, dancing a surreal dance, moving uninhibited steps, provoking energy. Energy, symbiosis of lacerated souls, energy, focal element, energy, fast heat, energy, disruptive virulence; energy, energy, ENERGY! And it runs reactive in every hidden place, it stokes the fire, direct attack of compression.

The pink-dressed girl accelerates the movements, accelerates time, languid and sensual, provoked by lacerating music.

“no need for words, and a hatred that grows... and you look outside, look outside, and shoot, shoot, shoot, SHOOT!"

Strange laughter in the air.

A NEW WAR

(ON THE FROZEN FLOOR)

"In your opinion, is the girl part of the group?" "I don't know." “It was all organized to put on a show." "But who are these 'Rest?'" "It turned out really well, though." "How good they are!" "I'd totally screw that one!” "I liked the legs!" "But who are these 'Rest'?!"

Rubber N.N.Legs looked at them and yelled: "Learn how to touch how to scar! ASSHOLES! You are DEAD ASSHOLES!"

Someone took offense, someone didn't; nothing more happened.

Rubber N.N. bought a tape of the concert on special offer and went back home. There he realized he had forgotten the big liter of Blended Scotch Whisky to drink in a flash. "Patiece!"

Too tired to think, he abandoned himself to suffering, on the ground, on the frozen floor, and wept.

Why did he weep?

Maybe because his clothes were filthy

Maybe because rats infested the city

Maybe because he didn't have a heart hard as steel

Maybe because the floor was uncomfortable

Maybe because his feet stank

Maybe because the recording was terrible

Maybe because the poodle had inherited ten million

Maybe because he had the knife in his pocket

Maybe because he was still lucid

Maybe because he was still ruthlessly lucid

Maybe because the night ran long and hot and dark

(like fate)...

Ida Maffei

THE REST

La chitarra ruggisce una distorta sequela di riffs ipnotici e ne fa territorio di battaglia per una sezione ritmica implacabile (con tanto di drum machine) ed una voce che ne è gelida e lucida conseguenza. In attività sin dal 1984, i napoletani Rest esordiscono nel 1988 con una piccola serie di nastri autoprodotti, l'ultimo dei quali finisce in mano alla prodiga Energeia. Nel 1989 esce un'altra cassetta (Strange laughs, sempre su Energeia) ed aumentano considerevolmente le partecipazioni a compilations, anche straniere o su vinile. Nati e vissuti alle pendici del Vesuvio, i Rest non si sono mai risparmiati dal compiere rotte improbabili nella dilaniata e dilatata galassia musicale degli ultimi trent'anni: la dimensione spazio/tempo acquista negli insofferenti Rest l'ennesimo valore zero. “Un rumore bianco senza fine” (maschile e femminile) a dir poco inconsueto per l'italiano medio(cre).

THE REST sono: Enzo Fattorusso (voce), Ciro Fattorusso (chitarra), Renato Capponcelli (basso).

DAGLI INIZI AD OGGI E' CAMBIATO QUALCOSA NELLA VOSTRA MUSICA?!? 

(Ciro) Suonare e creare personaggi tenendoli il più possibile lontani dalla gente; privare il pubblico di una qualsiasi identificazione come a voler dire: ascoltate pure, ma "questi" non siete voi. Costringere chi ascolta all'impotenza di fronte ad una batteria elettronica che batte come un bombardamento e una chitarra distorta che cerca di confondere le idee, semmai ce ne fosse bisogno. Questo modo di porsi in musica porta ad avere tasche e platee vuote, ma mi piace. All'inizio era tutto più caldo, poi con il tempo siamo riusciti a rendere il tutto più freddo e distaccato. 

(Enzo) Ai pochi che ci hanno seguito fin dagli inizi, i cambiamenti risulteranno evidenti. Già con il secondo demo perdemmo parte degli estimatori che avevamo acquisito con il primo. E' probabile che con il disco che stiamo registrando la cosa si ripeta, ma ho troppa voglia di sperimentare e di provare cose nuove. Forse in noi questo avviene con troppa rapidità, ma meglio così che ritrovarsi a quarant'anni a suonare per l'ennesima volta “Brown”. A tutti gli altri non saprei che cosa dire: non mi va di fare delle chiacchiere da intellettuale. E' tutto lì, nelle canzoni, nelle parole, nelle fotografie... E poi, dopo questo disco, sarà tutto finito: quello che abbiamo fatto verrà dimenticato a beneficio dell'ultimo gruppo fotocopia di qualcos'altro. Se poi qualcuno verrà a cercare tra le nostre ceneri, la cosa non ci interessa: tanto saremo già da qualche altra parte.

ED IN VOI?!?

(Ciro) Crediamo di avere una certa concezione della musica perché viviamo in un determinato modo. Il cambiamento musicale è andato sempre di pari passo con una certa trasformazione caratteriale. 

(Enzo) Oggi siamo molto più concreti di sette anni fa, e non solo come musicisti. Se adesso un imbecille "critica" il nostro lavoro con argomentazioni così stupide da risultare davvero irritanti, o mi rimprovera di non "cantare" come chissà chi, non sprechiamo il nostro tempo ad insultarlo rovesciandogli addosso tutta la sua boria e la sua ignoranza. Ognuno ascolta la musica che si merita. Non siamo stati, né saremo mai, dei missionari.

CHE MUSICA VI PIACE?!? 

(Renato) Al riguardo siamo sanamente discordi, anche se loro due hanno molte affinità: io ho gusti più specifici, loro sono più "onnivori". 

E QUALE NON?!? 

(Enzo) La musica senz'anima. 

CHI VI HA ISPIRATO?!? 

(Enzo & Ciro): Nomi e situazioni a cui non penseresti mai ascoltando i nostri pezzi.

(Renato) Il movimento punk.

UN PAIO DI AGGETTIVI PER DEFINIRE LA VOSTRA MUSICA... 

(Enzo) Non ci interessa in alcun modo definire le cose che facciamo.

CHI UCCIDERESTE SENZA PIETA' ?!? 

(Enzo) Troppa gente. 

(Ciro) I giornalisti. E poi tutti gli "operatori del settore musicale".

PASSATEMPI PREFERITI ?!? 

(Enzo) Sesso. 

(Ciro) Suonare da solo. 

(Renato) Cibo.

PENNELLO! (Giovanni Meli) 

THE REST

The guitar roars a distorted sequence of hypnotic riffs, turning it into a battleground for a relentless rhythmic section (complete with a drum machine) and a voice that is its cold, lucid consequence. Active since 1984, the Neapolitan band Rest debuted in 1988 with a small series of self-produced tapes, the last of which ended up in the hands of the lavish Energeia label. In 1989, another cassette was released (Strange Laughs, also on Energeia), and their appearances in compilations—including foreign ones or on vinyl—increased considerably. Born and raised on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, The Rest have never spared themselves from charting improbable routes across the torn and dilated musical galaxy of the last thirty years: for the restless Rest, the space/time dimension takes on yet another zero value. "An endless white noise" (masculine and feminine) that is to say the least unusual for the average (mediocre) Italian.

THE REST are: Enzo Fattorusso (vocals), Ciro Fattorusso (guitar), Renato Capponcelli (bass).

HAS ANYTHING CHANGED IN YOUR MUSIC FROM THE BEGINNING UNTIL TODAY?!

(Ciro): Playing and creating characters while keeping them as far away from people as possible; depriving the audience of any identification, as if to say: go ahead and listen, but "this" is not you. Forcing the listener into helplessness in front of a drum machine that beats like a bombardment and a distorted guitar that tries to confuse things, if there were ever any need for it. This way of approaching music leads to empty pockets and empty venues, but I like it. In the beginning, everything was warmer, then over time we managed to make everything colder and more detached.

(Enzo): To the few who have followed us since the beginning, the changes will be obvious. Already with the second demo, we lost part of the admirers we had gained with the first. It is likely that with the album we are currently recording, the same thing will happen again, but I have too much desire to experiment and try new things. Perhaps in us, this happens with too much speed, but it is better this way than finding oneself at forty playing "Brown" for the umpteenth time. As for everyone else, I wouldn't know what to say: I don't feel like making intellectual small talk. It's all there, in the songs, in the words, in the photographs... And then, after this record, it will all be over: what we have done will be forgotten to the benefit of the latest carbon-copy band of something else. If someone later comes digging through our ashes, we don't care: we will already be somewhere else anyway.

AND WITHIN YOURSELVES?!

(Ciro): We believe we have a certain conception of music because we live in a specific way. Musical change has always gone hand in hand with a certain transformation of character.

(Enzo): Today we are much more concrete than seven years ago, and not just as musicians. If an imbecile "criticizes" our work now with arguments so stupid that they are truly irritating, or reproaches me for not "singing" like who-knows-who, we don't waste our time insulting him and throwing all his arrogance and ignorance back at him. Everyone listens to the music they deserve. We have never been, nor will we ever be, missionaries.

WHAT KIND OF MUSIC DO YOU LIKE?!

(Renato): We are healthily at odds regarding this, even though those two share many affinities: I have more specific tastes, while they are more "omnivorous."

AND WHAT KIND DO YOU NOT LIKE?!

(Enzo): Soulless music.

WHO INSPIRED YOU?!

(Enzo & Ciro): Names and situations you would never think of when listening to our tracks.

(Renato): The punk movement.

A COUPLE OF ADJECTIVES TO DEFINE YOUR MUSIC...

(Enzo): We have absolutely no interest in defining the things we do.

WHO WOULD YOU KILL WITHOUT MERCY?!

(Enzo): Too many people.

(Ciro): Journalists. And then all the "music industry insiders."

FAVORITE HOBBIES?!

(Enzo): Sex.

(Ciro): Playing alone.

(Renato): Food.

PENNELLO! (Giovanni Meli)

Vincenzo Fattorusso was born in Naples thirty-two years ago; like many of his compatriots, he does not have a stable job. 

'Alberghi di cera' (Wax Hotels) is the end of a journey. An intense and restless sensitivity transforms the clash with an incompatible reality into a devastating hallucination, reflecting it within the space of the written word—which is felt as the only chance to manage the experience of magmatic years, long played on the edge of self-destruction. Being (by choice, by 'chance'?) a man against the grain, living this dimension with the ruthless certainty that only certain years can give. And when the anger has completely burned out, finding the courage to turn around and look; with 'Alberghi di cera', the transition from being dominated by experience to the mastery of experience is complete. This conquest is achieved through a long-crafted writing style that blends different genres in search of an original voice that adheres closely to the distinctiveness of the communicative urge. A hermetically dense prose, where illuminations stand out with the sinister charm of a lightning bolt."

Gianpaolo Palumbo

¹ “calore in scatola”: Traduzione letterale dell'espressione gergale americana canned heat. L'espressione nasce nel Sud degli Stati Uniti durante gli anni del Proibizionismo, per indicare lo Sterno, un combustibile gelatinoso a base di alcol denaturato (venduto in lattine per scaldare i cibi) che i ceti più poveri e i musicisti vagabondi filtravano per berlo, malgrado gli effetti letali. 

² ossi di gatti neri: Esplicito riferimento al black cat bone, uno dei più potenti talismani della tradizione magica voodoo e del folklore Hoodoo del Delta del Mississippi. Secondo la leggenda, l'osso di un gatto nero bollito a mezzanotte conferiva poteri sovrannaturali, invisibilità e abilità artistiche sovrumane. 

³ Robert Johnson: (1911–1938) Il leggendario re del Blues del Delta, celebre per il mito del patto col diavolo siglato a un crocicchio (crossroads) in cambio del suo immenso talento chitarristico. 

⁴ Nota sulla trascrizione e variante critica: Il testo qui documentato rispecchia fedelmente la versione integrale incisa nel disco The Rest. Mentre in alcune sinossi o varianti cartacee successive il testo si interrompe alle "verità che vengono a galla", questa specifica incisione si distingue proprio per la presenza degli ultimi tre versi. La chiusura non è cantata, ma parlata.

“Eyes Bright for Asphalt”

You won't sing anymore
of canned heat¹
and black cat bones²
you won't sing anymore
of canned heat
and black cat bones

Robert Johnson³ 

cheated all us
cheated all us
Behind this nothing
with the eyes bright for asphalt
behind this nothing
with the eyes bright for asphalt

don't hide
don't hide
cardboards and all these fucking rock'n'roll
And the bastards lick the blood
coming out of your wounds
the bastards lick the blood
coming out of your wounds
as truths
as truths coming to light
as truths coming to light

I'll be sitting on the ground
I'll be sitting on the ground
with the eyes bright for asphalt⁴

(lyrics by Vincenzo Fattorusso, music by Ciro Fattorusso)

¹ “canned heat”: Literal translation of the American slang expression canned heat. The term originated in the American South during the Prohibition era to refer to Sterno, a jellied fuel made from denatured alcohol (sold in cans for heating food) that the poorest social classes and wandering musicians filtered to drink, despite its lethal effects.

² bones of black cats: Explicit reference to the black cat bone, one of the most powerful talismans in the Voodoo magical tradition and Mississippi Delta Hoodoo folklore. According to legend, the bone of a black cat boiled at midnight granted supernatural powers, invisibility, and superhuman artistic skills.

³ Robert Johnson: (1911–1938) The legendary King of the Delta Blues, famous for the myth of the deal with the devil signed at a crossroads in exchange for his immense guitar talent.

⁴ Note on the transcription and critical variant: The text documented here faithfully reflects the full version recorded on the album The Rest. While in some synopses or subsequent printed variants the text breaks off at the "truths that come to light", this specific recording stands out precisely for the presence of the final three lines. The closing is spoken rather than sung.

THE REST

PASSATO E PRESENTE DI UNA BAND SENZA FUTURO (1984-1991)

"SONO IL BUIO /

IL CANCRO CHE CONSUMA LE GIORNATE /

TUTTE LE ANIME DISTORTE /

UN RUMORE BIANCO SENZA FINE "

(Enzo Fattorusso; da "The Stranger'')

Nel lontano inverno del 1984 i fratelli Enzo e Ciro Fattorusso decidono di dare vita ad una band,la cui attività è a tutt'oggi tra le più significative quanto misconosciute del panorama musicale napoletano. I The Rest sono per la prima volta on stage nel 1985: un concerto quasi improvvisato (il bassista comincia a provare con Enzo, voce, e Ciro, chitarra, pochi giorni prima del concerto); Luciano Canzanella, batteria, rimane pochissimo col gruppo, allontanandosi poi definitivamente dalla scena musicale. L'organico subisce innumerevoli cambiamenti per incompatibilità musicale con i molti musicisti che si danno il cambio al basso (per la batteria la scelta di quella elettronica si rivelerà una delle intuizioni più felici per lo sviluppo del particolarissimo suono dei The Rest), fino ad assestarsi nel 1988, grazie alla collaborazione di Renato Capponcelli, chitarrista dei Veleni Tedeschi, che con grande duttilità s'inventa bassista, quasi preveggendo le grandi potenzialità che tale line up  sarà in grado di esprimere. I concerti del gruppo vengono generalmente accolti dal pubblico con un atteggiamento che va dallo sgomento all'avversione: da una parte è ancora troppo fresca nella memoria collettiva l'esperienza, tanto per non cambiare made in England, del punk e del dark, e dall'altra l'''onda del vesuvio", pompata oltre i giusti limiti dal Gatto e la Volpe, lascia spazi esigui per quant'altro di (più) originale si delinea musicalmente nella nostra città. Padri spirituali della band sono gruppi come i SUICIDE, i VELVET UNDERGROUND, gli STOOGES, ma i The Rest gettano presto le basi per una loro originalissima elaborazione sonora che ha come referente non musicale quella parte di tenebra che è dentro ognuno di noi. Una genuina tensione emotivo-intellettuale spinge il gruppo a percorrere il difficile sentiero che attraversa il lato oscuro della nostra anima, per giungere al cuore della Frustrazione, dell'Angoscia, della Paura. 

"STRANE OMBRE CERCATE / DENTRO FOLLE CONFUSE / E LA BIRINTI / DOVE MARCISCONO I SENSI / IN UNA PRECOCE / AMARA PUTREFAZIONE" (“Touching as slashing”) 

La follia che la nostra psiche ha imparato a gestire come elemento ordinario dell' esistenza, viene smascherata ed esposta nella cruda poliedicità della sua natura.

"NUDI E AGITATI / SCUOTIAMO LE CARNI / COME FANTASMI FUORI DALLE MURA / GOLE SEGNATE DALLA RUGGINE DELLE PAROLE / GERME SOTTILE / LAMA DI BISTURI / DA CALARE / DENTRO OCCHIATE FUMOSE” (“The rust of words”). 

Questo viaggio al termine della notte viene intrapreso grazie ad una musica che, attraverso quattro prove su nastro, DemotapE.P., 1988, The Rest, e Strange laughs, raggiunge un'inconfondibile cifra stilistica. La sezione ritmica oscilla tra tempi lenti ed incalzanti, imperniati sulla stessa nota espressiva: una ossessiva durezza che stranea il pensiero, amplificandolo progressivamente oltre i suoi limiti, o costringendolo in uno spazio angusto dove bruciare violentemente. La graffiante distorsione dei riff si accompagna al basso e alla batteria elettronica in un gioco di assonanze e dissonanze dove la peculiarità della voce trova lo spazio di cui necessita. Non è possibile, e, quel che più importa, non è congruente, nel caso di Enzo Fattorusso, perdersi in sottili analisi circa l'altezza, l'intensità oppure il timbro della sua voce. Non è congruente perché Enzo non canta secondo l'accezione tradizionale del termine, ma usa la voce in una "recitazione" del testo, costruita sulla cadenza di "Touching as slashing" o sulla rotta litania di "A story", che termina in una sorta di fibrillazione vocale. The Rest scuotono dal profondo lo schema "canzone", riuscendo a fuggire da qualsiasi tentazione manieristica fino a giungere, in alcuni episodi, al completo superamento di detto schema; è il caso esemplare di ''A story'', in cui non solo l'interpretazione del testo, ma il testo stesso è soggetto alla carica emotiva di ogni singola esecuzione. I testi costituiscono un elemento di importanza pari a quello musicale nel prodotto offerto dal gruppo. L'uso della lingua inglese nasce dalla riflessione, per cosi dire, automatica sulla natura di tale lingua che, al di là di ogni discorso sulla sua canonicità nell'ambito della musica Rock, per determinate caratteristiche fonetiche e sintattiche permette una sintesi ed un'incisività difficilmente raggiungibile col nostro codice linguistico. I nastri della band sono accompagnati da booklets con la traduzione italiana dei testi, che non sempre nascono come "parole per la musica" ma sono estratti da sceneggiature, e' il caso di 'Five years", o adattamenti della parallela attivita' di scrittura di Enzo Fattorusso. Questa matrice prevalentemente letteraria dei testi arricchisce il discorso globale dei The Rest, che mostra uno spessore difficilmente riscontrabile in molte delle attuali produzioni musicali partenopee. Considerare come è stato fatto l'assenza di speranza come la peculiarità della musica del gruppo vuol dire cogliere in modo parziale il significato dell'attività dei Nostri. Canzoni come "Looking for abrasion", "Wax hotels'', “Eyes bright for asphalt", "Heart of steel", "Icy floor", non sono passive rivelazioni di disperazione, di angosce metropolitane, di assenza d'identità; ogni brano è il detonatore di una carica costruita per far esplodere il muro d'acquiescenza che addormenta e protegge le coscienze. Ma spetta a noi, o meglio al nostro coraggio, abbassare quel detonatore; ma, certo, non è una cosa facile... 

Secondo una delle più consolidate e amare delle tradizioni, "nessuno è profeta in patria", i sette anni di attività dei The Rest sono stati accolti dalla nostra città con l'indifferenza che, ci si perdoni l'alzo del tiro, ha già “premiato" in epoche passate i fermenti più vivi e meno massificanti della nostra cultura. L'estraneità a fazioni, la sincera coerenza del pensiero, unitamente alla "pericolosità per l'individuo e la società'' della loro musica, hanno creato a Napoli intorno al gruppo una sorta di congiura del silenzio, che, fortunatamente, non ha impedito che la loro attività venisse apprezzata altrove, in Italia e all'estero. Nel 1989 The Rest parteciparono, come finalisti per la Campania, alla manifestazione nazionale "Millenovecentottantanote di libertà"; sono a tutt'oggi l'unico gruppo italiano presente nelle compilations di una indie gallese, la RAIN TAPES, che opera sul mercato inglese. Entro la fine dell'anno i fratelli Fattorusso e Renato Capponcelli culmineranno la loro attività con un'uscita su vinile (è prevista l'incisione di 9 dei brani del loro repertorio), cui seguirà lo scioglimento del gruppo: ma le coscienze più avvertite sentiranno sempre lungo il proprio cammino l'eco di strane risate . 

(Cpt. Queeg)

The Rest: Past and Present of a Band with No Future (1984-1991)

"I am the darkness / 

the cancer that consumes the days / 

all the distorted souls / 

an endless white noise" 

(Enzo Fattorusso; from "The Stranger")

In the distant winter of 1984, brothers Enzo and Ciro Fattorusso decided to form a band. To this day, their work remains one of the most significant yet unrecognized chapters in the Neapolitan music scene. The Rest took the stage for the first time in 1985 for a nearly improvised concert. The bassist had only started rehearsing with Enzo (vocals) and Ciro (guitar) a few days prior. Luciano Canzanella (drums) stayed with the group for a very short time before leaving the music scene for good. The lineup underwent countless changes due to musical incompatibilities with the many musicians who rotated on bass. For the drums, switching to an electronic drum machine proved to be one of the most successful intuitions for developing the highly unique sound of The Rest. The lineup finally stabilized in 1988 thanks to the collaboration of Renato Capponcelli, guitarist for Veleni Tedeschi. Displaying great versatility, he reinvented himself as a bassist, almost anticipating the massive potential this lineup would be able to express. The group's concerts were generally received by audiences with reactions ranging from dismay to hostility. On one hand, the memory of British punk and dark wave was still too fresh in the collective consciousness. On the other hand, the "Vesuvius Wave"—hyped beyond reasonable limits by corporate promoters—left very little room for anything more original emerging musically in our city. While the band's spiritual fathers were groups like Suicide, The Velvet Underground, and The Stooges, The Rest quickly laid the foundations for their own highly original sonic style. Their main non-musical reference point was that piece of darkness that lives inside each of us. A genuine emotional and intellectual tension drives the group to walk the difficult path through the dark side of our soul, reaching the very heart of Frustration, Anguish, and Fear.

"STRANGE SHADOWS SOUGHT / INSIDE CONFUSED CROWDS / AND LABYRINTHS / WHERE THE SENSES ROT / IN A PRECOCIOUS / BITTER PUTREFACTION" (“Touching as slashing”)

The madness that our psyche has learned to manage as an ordinary element of existence is unmasked and exposed in the raw, multi-faceted complexity of its nature.

"NAKED AND AGITATED / WE SHAKE OUR FLESH / LIKE GHOSTS OUTSIDE THE WALLS / THROATS MARKED BY THE RUST OF WORDS / SUBTLE GERM / SCALPEL BLADE / TO BE PLUNGED / INTO SMOKY GLANCES” (“The rust of words”).

This journey to the end of the night is undertaken thanks to a music that achieves an unmistakable stylistic hallmark through four tape releases: DemotapE.P., 1988, The Rest, and Strange laughs. The rhythmic section oscillates between slow and pressing tempos, all hinged on the same expressive note: an obsessive harshness that alienates thought, progressively amplifying it beyond its limits, or trapping it within a narrow space to burn violently. The scratching distortion of the riffs accompanies the bass and the electronic drum machine in a interplay of assonances and dissonances, where the unique character of the vocals finds the space it requires. In the case of Enzo Fattorusso, it is neither possible nor—more importantly—relevant to get lost in subtle analyses regarding the pitch, intensity, or timbre of his voice. It is not relevant because Enzo does not sing in the traditional sense of the word; instead, he uses his voice to "recite" the text. This is built upon the cadence of "Touching as slashing" or the broken litany of "A story," which ends in a sort of vocal fibrillation. The Rest shake the "song" formula from its very depths, managing to escape any mannerist temptation to the point of completely moving beyond said formula in certain instances. A prime example of this is "A story," where not only the performance of the lyrics, but the lyrics themselves are subject to the emotional charge of each individual execution. Indeed, the lyrics constitute an element of equal importance to the music in the material offered by the group. The use of the English language stems from an almost automatic reflection on the very nature of the language itself. Beyond any discussion of its canonical status within Rock music, certain phonetic and syntactic characteristics of English allow for a synthesis and incisiveness that are difficult to achieve within our own linguistic code. The band's tapes are accompanied by booklets containing Italian translations of the lyrics. These lyrics do not always originate as "words for music," but are instead extracted from screenplays—as is the case with "Five Years"—or adapted from Enzo Fattorusso's parallel writing activities. This predominantly literary matrix of the lyrics enriches the global discourse of The Rest, displaying a depth rarely found in much of the current Neapolitan musical landscape. To consider the absence of hope as the sole defining trait of the group's music, as some have done, means capturing the meaning of their work only partially. Songs like "Looking for abrasion," "Wax hotels," "Eyes bright for asphalt," "Heart of steel," and "Icy floor" are not passive revelations of despair, metropolitan anxieties, or a lack of identity. Each track is the detonator of a charge built to blow up the wall of acquiescence that puts consciences to sleep and protects them. However, it is up to us—or rather, to our courage—to press that detonator; but, of course, that is no easy task... 

In accordance with one of the most established and bitter traditions—"no one is a prophet in their own land"—The Rest's seven years of activity were met by our city with the kind of indifference that (forgive us for aiming so high) has already "rewarded" the most vibrant and least mass-produced undercurrents of our culture in times past. Their detachment from factions and the sincere consistency of their thought, combined with the "danger to the individual and society" inherent in their music, created a sort of conspiracy of silence around the group in Naples. Fortunately, this did not prevent their work from being appreciated elsewhere, both in Italy and abroad. In 1989, The Rest participated as finalists for the Campania region in the national event "Millenovecentottantanote di libertà." To this day, they remain the only Italian group featured on the compilations of a Welsh indie label, RAIN TAPES, which operates within the British market. By the end of the year, the Fattorusso brothers and Renato Capponcelli will culminate their journey with a vinyl release (featuring the recording of 9 tracks from their repertoire), which will be followed by the disbandment of the group. Yet, the most perceptive minds will always hear the echo of strange laughs along their path.

(Cpt. Queeg)

UNDERGROUND 

The rest 

Veleni Tedeschi 

CF&tac 

SCAR-NA

Energeia Produzioni ,1990 

Materiale non reperibile su vinile. 

Domenica mattina è una bella giornata di sole, i colori si stagliano netti all'orizzonte, anche la tua faccia allo specchio è migliore degli altri giorni. Ma se strappi quel velo di vetro tutto comincia a deformarsi: i tratti del volto si esasperano in una maschera allucinata, i colori si sciolgono in un liquido grigio che si spiaccica sul pavimento. Il cervello si dilata fino ad esplodere, spazzando via forme‚ luci, suoni, tutto ciò che ha la pretesa di essere realtà. E' domenica mattina... "Sunday morning" dei Velvet Underground nella originalissima cover dei The Rest apre SCAR-NA, compilation dell'Energeia uscita sul finire dell'anno scorso. SCAR= sfregio, NA= Napoli, SCAR+NA= SCARNA. Già nel titolo si evidenzia il progetto che anima la compilation: ribadire l'esistenza ed il valore delle proposte musicali di alcune band, con la violenza e l'indelebilità di uno sfregio sul volto imbellettato e insipido della attuale musica made in Naples. The Rest , Veleni Tedeschi, CF & TAC si caratterizzano da sempre come gruppi atipici rispetto alla scena cittadina, dominata dal jazz, cotto in tutte le salse, seguito, a debita distanza, dal blues, dal metal, versione standard e lusso, e da un “oggetto suonante non identificato", che gli addetti al lavori, quelli "seri", si affannano‚forse per carità di patria, a classificare come "sound mediterraneo", “rock (?) latino" e via etichettando. Ciò che accomuna i protagonisti di SCARNA è quella che in tempi non sospetti si sarebbe definita la "matrice ideologica" della loro musica, che non è mai fine a sé stessa ma è invece chiave di lettura della realtà sociale ed urbana, strumento d'indagine e d'intervento fuori e dentro l'uomo. Qualcuno potrà dire che si tratta della scoperta dell'acqua calda, ma se così è, ci chiediamo perchè tanti altri gruppi se ne tengano lontani. Forse per paura di scottarsi? 

Ma ripieghiamo le ali e torniamo ai nostri. I Veleni Tedeschi, presenti nella compilation con "Black from white", "If I die” e “Merci beaucoup", si attestano su un suono volutamente grezzo, una ritmica martellata sostenuta da riff ben tirati e connessi; un tessuto sonoro di grande impatto da cui si levano "svisate" velocissime e ripetitive. 

I The Rest, che compaiono in SCARNA oltre che con "Sunday morning" anche con "A new war", “Cue", "Five years" e “Only rain", sono la band più longeva sotto il profilo artistico, come dimostra anche la loro musica. Essa è il risultato di una lunga rarefazione dell'anima più cupa ed elettrica del Rock, ottenuta attraverso il filtro di sonorita' elettroniche. Riff ripetitivi in cui si "intrappola" una voce che narra la lenta disgregazione del reale dopo che anche l'ultimo velo è stato rimosso, quando oggetti e affetti del quotidiano passano dallo spazio normale a uno ad enne dimensioni. The Rest hanno ormai giunto una loro inconfondibile liturgia espressiva. (C)iro (F)attorusso & the (T)hings (A)bove (C)omprehension è la sigla dietro cui opera Ciro Fattorusso, chitarrista ed arrangiatore dei The Rest. Quello offerto su SCARNA è il primo assaggio di un'esperienza solista che CF porta avanti ormai da tempo. Proprio per la sua natura di assaggio, il materiale sonoro contenuto, “Decay", "Intro", "Dr.K experiment" e "Nursing home" non soddisfa pienamente. Ciro Fattorusso si avvia sulla strada di uno sperimentalismo interessante, che abbandona parzialmente la fusione elettrico/elettronica dei The Rest, per spaziare in un ambito piu vasto, recuperando in maniera molto personale sonorità acustiche. Questo chitarrista autodidatta apre coraggiosamente la sua indagine sull'"oggetto suono", con una profonda tensione conoscitiva che ci auguriamo possa portarlo assai lontano lungo le strade della musica.

(Cpt. Queeg)

UNDERGROUND

The Rest

Veleni Tedeschi

CF&tac

SCAR-NA

Energeia Produzioni, 1990

Material not available on vinyl.

Sunday morning is a beautiful, sunny day. The colors stand out sharply on the horizon, and even your face in the mirror looks better than on other days. But if you tear away that glass veil, everything begins to warp: your facial features distort into a hallucinated mask, and the colors melt into a gray liquid that splatters onto the floor. The brain expands until it explodes, wiping away shapes, lights, sounds—everything that claims to be reality. It is Sunday morning... "Sunday morning" by the Velvet Underground, in a highly original cover by The Rest, opens SCAR-NA, an Energeia compilation released late last year. SCAR= scar, NA= Naples, SCAR+NA= SCARNA [meaning "scrawny" or "fleshless" in Italian]. The very title highlights the project driving the compilation: to reaffirm the existence and value of musical proposals from specific bands with the violence and permanence of a scar slashed across the heavily made-up, bland face of current music "made in Naples." The Rest, Veleni Tedeschi, and CF & TAC have always stood out as atypical groups compared to the local scene. This scene is dominated by jazz—cooked up in every possible flavor—followed at a safe distance by blues, standard and luxury versions of metal, and an "unidentified sounding object" that "serious" industry insiders scramble to classify (perhaps out of national pride) as "Mediterranean sound," "Latin rock (?)" and other such labels. What unites the key players of SCAR-NA is what, in less cynical times, would have been called the "ideological matrix" of their music. Their work is never an end in itself; instead, it is a key to interpreting social and urban reality—an instrument of investigation and intervention both outside and inside the human experience. Some might say this is just reinventing the wheel, but if that is the case, we have to wonder why so many other bands steer clear of it. Perhaps for fear of getting burned? 

But let us fold our wings and return to our subjects. Veleni Tedeschi, featured on the compilation with "Black from white," "If I die," and "Merci beaucoup," anchor themselves in a deliberately raw sound, a hammered rhythm backed by tight, cohesive riffs—a high-impact sonic fabric from which lightning-fast, repetitive guitar licks arise. 

The Rest, who appear on SCAR-NA not only with "Sunday morning" but also with "A new war," "Cue," "Five years," and "Only rain," are the most long-lived band from an artistic standpoint, as their music clearly demonstrates. Their sound is the result of a long distillation of Rock's darkest, most electric soul, achieved through the filter of electronic sounds. Repetitive riffs trap a voice that narrates the slow disintegration of reality once the final veil has been stripped away—when everyday objects and affections shift from normal space into an n-dimensional one. The Rest have now achieved their own unmistakable expressive liturgy. (C)iro (F)attorusso & the (T)hings (A)bove (C)omprehension is the acronym behind which Ciro Fattorusso, guitarist and arranger for The Rest, operates. What is offered on SCAR-NA is the first taste of a solo endeavor that CF has been pursuing for some time now. Precisely due to its nature as a sampler, the sonic material included—"Decay," "Intro," "Dr.K experiment," and "Nursing home"—is not entirely satisfying. Ciro Fattorusso is embarking on a path of interesting experimentalism, partially abandoning the electric/electronic fusion of The Rest to explore a broader scope, reclaiming acoustic sounds in a highly personal manner. This self-taught guitarist courageously opens his investigation into the "sound object" with a deep, knowledge-seeking tension that we hope will carry him very far down the roads of music.

(Cpt. Queeg)