Music

Audio Adversity

We Ragazzi Maintain Sound Through Discord

Fri May 14, Neumo's, 6 pm, $8 adv/$10 DOS (all ages).

by Michael Alan Goldberg

Though We Ragazzi--a Brooklyn-by-way-of-Chicago trio grafting no-wave skronk to garage-blues grit (think Blonde Redhead meets the Make-Up)--has been at it since the late '90s, this is their first-ever trip to Seattle. The band is making this their base of operations for two weeks while playing a number of shows in the region, which means there'll be plenty of downtime to enjoy our fair city.

"We need to find someone with a boat," laughs keyboardist Colleen Burke. "We really wanna get out on the water."

Sounds pleasant enough, but given the threesome's long history of discord, one worries such an outing could end with either Burke, singer-guitarist Tony Rolando, or drummer Alianna Kalaba getting tossed overboard. Metaphorically speaking, that's what happened back in 2001 during We Regazzi's first national tour in support of their debut, Suicide Sound System.

"It was really bad--we broke up onstage in Memphis," Burke recounts. "Tony walked off in the middle of the set, and then the next day we sent him back to Chicago on a train.... The whole thing was just us being young and stupid and having egos and other things taking a toll on everyone."

Six months later, Burke and Rolando decided their musical connection was worth the strife, though Kalaba (who had found work with other bands in the interim) had to be replaced for 2002's The Ache. Still, the chaos kept on coming: The new drummer fell in love and quit (amicably); Kalaba subsequently returned to the fold; they lost their Chicago rehearsal space; and near the end of 2003, We Ragazzi traveled to New York to play CMJ and decided on the spot not to go back home.

Yet in the midst of all that turmoil, the band went into the studio for six hectic days and came away with their killer new Wolves with Pretty Lips, the most focused, urgent, and alive album they've made thus far. Maybe adversity is good for the soul.

"Doing it was so panicked and so fun, one of the best times of my life," says Burke. "We only had one five-minute argument, about a tom sound! It's never been roses dealing with each other, that's for sure. But playing together feels amazing."

editor@thestranger.com

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