Italy's
Maneskin
make their bid for global pop domination with their third album, 2023's pulse-pounding
Rush!
While they sound like a sleazy garage rock band from New York circa the early aughts, they are best known for winning the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 for Italy with the song "Zitti e buoni." Prior to that, they teed up their breakthrough Eurovision run with a second-place finish on Italy's X Factor in 2017. All of which is to say that, while they can really and truly rock (devil horns and all),
aren't afraid to play in the tasteless, campy machinery of the modern pop landscape. In fact, on
they explicitly frame themselves within a sleazy, globe-trotting world of decadent partying, sexy models, and raw overindulgence -- all delivered with a kohl-eyed wink and a firm tongue in cheek. Cuts like "Bla Bla Bla," "Gasoline," and "Don't Wanna Sleep" have a giddy, dance-punk quality, as if
the Buzzcocks
ripped through
Maroon 5
's "Moves Like Jagger." There's also their ribald collaboration with guitarist
Tom Morello
that sounds, somewhat improbably and perhaps most fittingly, like
Rage Against the Machine
in deep punk tango with
Ricky Martin
. Some of the best moments come late in the album, where
and longtime producer
Fabrizio Ferraguzzo
let loose on a handful tracks (several sung in Italian) like the sinewy "La Fine," "Kool Kids," and the deliciously trashy "Mammamia," anthems where singer
Damiano David
's throaty sneer and the band's buzz-heavy grooves vibrate with an electric sensuality. With
,
make good on their Eurovision rock promise, delivering an album that's campy, inspired, and thrilling all at the same time. As they sing on "Kool Kids," "I am scum, real scum, but I'm good at this/We're not punk, we're not pop, we're just music freaks." ~ Matt Collar