La Mamoynia- Mono Ego

Make no mistake about it; although La Mamoynia’s music is heavily dependent on synthesizers, the Italy-based band owes at least as much to early post-punk and goth as to Front 242 or Nitzer Ebb. One of their first offerings included a cover of the Birthday Party’s “Mr. Clarinet,” and the Birthday Party are a pretty apt comparison. Although La Mamoynia replace the overdriven guitars and thunderous drums with distorted analog synths and headache-inducing drum machine patterns, the intentional sonic devastation is there, as is the deliberately flattened vocal bellow. There’s also a touch of early industrial – not dance, but actual noisy industrial, like old Einstürzende Neubauten and Test Department – in evidence, especially with the rattling, clanking percussion of “Kammeno Charti” or the more darkwave-inspired “Ich Bin Niemand.” Mainly, though, this is raw, aggressive garage music that sounds like it came straight out of the early ‘80s, too heavy for glam, too brooding for punk and too scary for New Wave. “Hated For Seeing Deep In The Eyes” throbs like a lost Joy Division B-side, “And Nothing More For You” bounces evilly along like G.G. Allin bashing one of Gary Numan’s castaway keyboards, and “Something That Does Not Exist” wails and moans over a plodding drum machine like an earlier, angrier Attrition. Similar to fellow Italian band The Head Stops, La Mamoynia’s blend of punk, darkwave and industrial noise should particularly appeal to fans of Death In June pre-folk period.

Go to www.lamamoynia.com for more information.