a/placa (I) & Hikikomori

In the organizer's words:

a/lpaca (I):

post punk, kraut, psychedelic, garage from Mantua

Hikikomori: pop jazz noise punk from Chemnitz

After their impressive debut "Make It Better" and hundreds of concerts, a/lpaca (post-punk/kraut | Mantua) are releasing their second album "Laughter".

In four years of wowing venues and festivals across Europe, the UK and the US (most notably with their participation at SXSW in Austin, Texas), a/lpaca have continued to write music and evolve their sound - moving away from "psych" and towards more electronic elements - while staying true to their kraut roots and "sonic" spirit, two of the characteristics that set them apart. The themes have also evolved: "The concept of the album," they say, "is probably a continuation of *Make It Better*. The difference is that the temporary cure for life, the thing that saves for a while, is no longer the music, the club, the concert and an artistic world to discover and live in, but only the presence of friends, the hazy effect of drinks and the "laughter" that displaces responsibility and the daily grind."

Choosing the songs for the album was a long and arduous process: some tracks were recorded in the summer and fall of 2023 by Marco Degli Esposti (who had also mixed "Make It Better") at Happenstance Recording Studio, while others had been created earlier, in 2021 and 2022, in Andrea Verrastro's home studio. "The repertoire was mainly created in the rehearsal room," they say, "both through improvisation and ideas we brought from home. However, it was finalized in the recording studio where we finished and rearranged several tracks. We recorded 15/16, but in the end we chose 11 for the album. One of them ("laughter, us us", which was recorded shortly after the Make It Better sessions) was recorded months after the initial sessions because we realized that one of the tracks we had recorded and that was supposed to be part of the track list wasn't quite ready and "right" for the album."

Compared to their debut, a/lpaca have grown both artistically and personally. They have had new experiences and met people who have influenced their way of thinking and songwriting. "We've listened to a lot of experimental and electronic music and met a lot of people from this 'underground' scene. Of course, we also continued to listen to a lot of punk and other genres that are closer to our style. We also spent two years organizing concerts at Arci Tom, and this experience was undoubtedly important for our approach to the new tracks. The fact that it took us so long to make this second album is because the process was natural, with its ups and downs, with songs we were initially excited about and others that no longer interested us. We wanted to offer something more diverse while staying true to our compositional style, which relies heavily on melody, riffs and repetition."

This diversity is reflected in a stylistically more varied repertoire, characterized by new elements such as the use of drum machines and a reduced focus on guitars in favour of bass sounds. The lyrics have also evolved, thanks in part to the "external" contribution of Nicolas Pedrazzoli and Laura Bindelli. "We believe that this album reveals different sides of our personality. We are not only referring to the innate passion to joke about every situation that life throws at us, or to a certain uneasiness towards life itself, but also to something deeper. There are tracks full of noise (Evil Pawn, Balance) and seemingly disjointed sounds (the end of Brano Fantuzzi) that show a search, or rather an experimentation, necessary to feel at ease. Furthermore, Kyrie leads us to a more spiritual aspect with its title. The last two tracks of the album also take a different direction and have seemingly softer tones. Laughter is something we come to terms with, understand and accept, all the sides of ourselves that both differentiate and connect us."

"Laughter us, us" will be available on all major streaming platforms as well as on vinyl and cassette.