Zipper: Muoio Quando Voglio Io cassette

Zipper: Muoio Quando Voglio Io cassette (Autsajder Produkcija) Croatia’s Autsajder Produkcija, the label run by Karlo from Indikator B, brings us another hit of raw and passionate international punk with this debut cassette from Milan, Italy’s Zipper. While Milano is the city that gave us Wretched, Negazione, and Rappresaglia, Zipper doesn’t sound like they’re trying to copy the 80s Italian bands. To my ears, Zipper fits better in the aesthetic lane Autsajder Produkcija has carved out for themselves with their first couple years’ of releases from bands like Indikator B, Poguba, Alambrada, and Muro. The words I used above—raw and passionate—kind of say it all, but there’s something about the way these bands—Zipper included—combine fast, raw punk that’s inspired by (but not overly indebted to) the 80s with just a hint of melody really stands out in the current international punk scene, which tends to be dominated by bands that stick to a very narrow set of aesthetic parameters. On Muoio Quando Voglio Io, Zipper sounds more organic and less considered, their blocky power chords and straightforward rhythms coming off as straightforward rather than simple or dumbed-down, and the vocalist sounding like they’re yelling from their gut about things they’re passionate about rather than trying to put on a certain kind of voice. I wish I could understand the lyrics, but I feel like Zipper taps into the universal language here, making me believe what they’re saying even if I don’t actually understand the words. For those of us obsessed with international hardcore punk, that’s the feeling we’re all after, right?