El Gringo by Anticamera: A Wild Ride Through Retro Beats
Alright, buckle up, because El Gringo by Anticamera is one hell of a trip back to '85. This Italian gem slaps harder than most modern crap trying to mimic the past. If you’re into disco and Italo-disco with that raw electronic edge, this album will slap you in the face and leave you begging for more.
First off, let’s talk about the title track “El Gringo.” Holy smokes, it hits like a freight train. The bassline? Ridiculous. It throbs so hard you can feel it in your chest, like some kinda primal heartbeat from another dimension. And those synths? Man, they spiral outta control like someone cranked the dials too far on purpose. Rolando and Zanaboni clearly had no chill when writing this beast—it's messy but intentional, chaotic yet smooth as hell. You don’t just listen to "El Gringo," you survive it. Every time I hear it, I’m ready to grab my jacket, jump on a motorcycle, and ride into the sunset—or at least pretend I’m cool enough to do that.
Then there’s the other standout track, simply titled “Anticamera.” It’s got this weirdly hypnotic vibe, like being stuck in a neon-lit elevator while someone keeps pressing random buttons. The arrangement by Leone and Zanaboni feels both calculated and totally unhinged, which honestly sums up the whole album perfectly. There are moments where it almost feels like the song might collapse under its own weight—but it never does. Instead, it pulls you deeper into its glitchy vortex until you forget what year it even is. Damn, these guys knew how to mess with people’s heads.
The production quality screams mid-'80s DIY studio magic—gritty, unpolished, and full of character. Anticamera (the band) wasn’t here to play it safe; they were throwing sonic Molotov cocktails left and right. Sure, some parts sound dated now, but isn’t that part of the charm? Gattocicova Records deserves props for letting this wild experiment see the light of day.
Here’s the kicker though: listening to El Gringo makes me wonder if anyone involved actually thought it’d still be talked about decades later. Did Rolando sit back after finishing the lyrics and go, “Yeah, this’ll confuse the hell outta future generations”? Or was Zanaboni tweaking knobs thinking, “Nah, nobody’ll get this”? Whatever their intentions, they nailed it.
So yeah, if you’re looking for something that doesn’t spoon-feed you boring nostalgia but instead punches you in the gut with pure retro insanity, give El Gringo a spin. Just don’t blame me if it ruins all other music for you afterward.
