So there we were on a merry, snowbound Saturday; Team Kiosk still giving it plenty of hi-5s and loud, Americanised “whoops” after yet another fabulous edition of our show, when the Phantom 105.2 doorbell rang. I answered it to find a very nice and handsome man who introduced himself as Federico. It wasn’t an entirely social call, he had wares to peddle – his friends’ band, De Grinpipol.
His pitch was impressive: firstly, he explained that the band’s name came from the way an Italian would say “The Green People” (?); then, he told me he’d targeted Phantom because they’re an indie rock band, something quite rare in Italy; also, they’re from Sardinia, hardly the centre of the Italian rock ‘n’ roll business anyway; and they’ve already gained a four-star review for their new single, Clap Your Hands (Like Monkeys), in Italy’s premier music magazine, Rockstar.
However, despite his impassioned plea for airplay, Nadine and I had to kindly explain to him that neither of us were Phantom’s music guru John Caddell, and therefore couldn’t really help him out, except to give him an email address, with which he seemed happy enough.
The following week, he sent what can only be described as a sugary sweet email to Phantom, describing the two members of The Kiosk he met as “a very kind Rockabilly guy and a really nice blonde girl”.
Anyway, judge De Grinpipol for yourself; they’ve been compared to Maximo Park, Modest Mouse and XTC – I’ll spare the question marks this time around. All I will say is, they’re nowhere near as ordinary as I expected for a nation whose record stores still file Born In The USA and Dark Side Of The Moon in the New Release section.
However, the most impressive element is their publicity guy, Federico – not least because he’s actually a vet by trade. Buona fortuna, chaps.
I Have Grave News 