Midnight Breakfast – Between | Album Review

Midnight Breakfast – Between

www.midnightbreakfastbluesband.com

self release

10 songs time-46:52

There is just no way to get around this. Singer Marco Valietti’s deep croaking bullfrog voice with an Italian accent is a bit much to take. He essentially talks. You find yourself straining to decipher much of what he says. That aside his guitar playing along with that of Stefano Albertini is intricate and interesting, but hardly blues. The rhythm section holds its’ own. they rely on very little outside help and all songs are joint band compositions. Remove the “vocals” and you have an interesting listen. Midnight Breakfast are from Bergamo, Italy and are at least taking chances with their music.

“Mirror” kicks in with kind of “Secret Agent” style guitars, then the “vocal” with it’s repetitive line “Am I right, am I wrong?” is said over and over. At least there are atmospheric guitars in “Trees”, but the talking isn’t pleasant to the ears. A slight slow blues vibe is featured in “Travelling”. “Down” has some nicely ringing guitars.

Distorted wah-wah guitar is the center of the upbeat “I Met A Girl”. He is saying something about “Wonderland”. Strangely, but refreshing, Marco “sings” “Ground” in a falsetto voice. The falsetto singing appears once again in “Cold Place”. By the time we arrive at the last song “Between”, the title song, I’m beginning to understand the words a bit more. I’m pretty sue he’s saying “There is a rhythm between us”.

Ok, this band is adventurous, but I find the “vocals” to be a big obstruction to get over. The promo material touts them as a blues band, something that in the case of this recording couldn’t be farther from reality. The music taken alone has intriguing tones and atmospherics. Maybe Marco’s extravagant voice has an appeal to the European audience, but I can’t see it. Hey guys how about a CD of all instrumentals next time around? You be the judge.

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