Weird Bloom is a Rome based psych pop and bubble glam band led by Luca Di Cataldo. The project, born in 2015 (formerly Weird Black), has released 2 records: Hy Brazil, Blisstonia (distributed at Rough Trade East, Brick Lane) along with a handful of singles produced at Pom Pom Studio in Rome via WWNBB Collective label. The band features a quirky use of cartoon saturated guitars whilst Luca’s psych hippie melodies move on a wall of harmonies and pumping early 70s drum grooves. The group was featured on Robin Hilton’s NPR SXSW 2018 best picks and continues to draw a dedicated following via their over the top electric live sets.
Weird Bloom
The groups latest release, ‘Stargate" passes through galaxies of sequins and vitriolic refrains made to order for «cosmic dancers», quoting T. Rex. If in the acclaimed previous record, Blisstonia, to predominate was the all-around exploration and reworking of the psychedelia of the old times, playfully remastered and twisted in the footsteps of Flaming Lips and Ariel Pink, here Weird Bloom leaves out the post-hippie aesthetic to embrace – also on the strength of the valuable and consolidated advice of Don Bolles, former The Germs – an idea of hard and raw rock, more material, fuzzy, without frills and thoughts. Leopard jackets and washed-out jeans take the place of lysergic freak tunics in a 10-track journey into the most visceral glam, made of timeless riffs and iconic titles like I'm a Razorblade, Saturday Night Is Breaking and Dum Dum Boogie.
Behind the scenes of the album is an almost philological desire to exactly recreate that mood: “We used to make the first takes, I'd send them to Don Bolles and to some maniacal vinyl-finding friends to get feedback on the veracity of the sound” says Di Cataldo. “Because the sound didn't convince me, it was always too contemporary. It took a long time to find that balance point, and when you find it, you have to hold on to it very tightly. Rock'n'roll is rather a state of mind to maintain, a different level of consciousness”
So forget the arty, intellectual and decadent side of Bowie and Roxy Music, Stargate's style is massively animated by Marc Bolan's boogie, Gary Glitter's kitschy poses, the glittering hard rock of the Sweet and the proto-garage of the Troggs, in a triumph of references pervaded with pure love for an era that no longer exists, but whose immortal and carefree attitude we can still, fortunately, enjoy in a little rock gem like this.