Upside: Nati Per Soffrire 7"

Italian harcore punk from Modena, originally self-released in 1983.
Wretched 'La Tua Morte Non Aspetta' era meets Nabat and Bloody Riot.

Our take: Reissue of the 1983 EP by this Italian band. Truth be told, I had never heard of them before this reissue, but looking at Discogs it seems that they have several cassette releases and an album from 1990 with weird, colorful artwork reminiscent of the first Upset Noise 12”. However, this EP’s artwork, which looks like it was executed in the back row of a 6th grade math class in 1985, is a much better indication of the sound on display here. Upside are basically right on that spot on the punk Venn diagram where hardcore, oi!, and UK82 overlap, which is a roundabout way of saying that they sound quite a lot like GBH. The riffs and songs are good and the performance is powerful, but I think that what really sets this EP apart for me is how the drums are right up front in the mix… each hit of the bass drum feels like a swift gut punch, and while the drummer’s performance is restrained it’s quite powerful. He even uses cowbell for a little of that distinctive Italian hardcore flavor (and speaking of Italian and drumming, how cool is it that “batteria” is the Italian word for drums?). The more I listen to this one the more it sticks to my ribs, to the point where I’d put this in the top edge of the middle tier of 80s oi!. So, basically, if your interest in the genre doesn’t extend beyond Blitz maybe you don’t need this in your life, but if you’re the kind of person who is down with the Crux / Crash split 12” I can’t recommend this highly enough.