Amici is a deceptively complex album. Only 22 minutes long across ten tracks, Primo!’s succinct writing method allows room for a lot of intricacies and distinct narratives.
This record hits their target, showing a depth and attention to detail hinted at on the 2015 Cassetto tape, recorded only just as the band began playing live.
Violetta DelConte Race grew up in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and Xanthe Waite in Sydney, but a family friendship originating in the ‘70s Melbourne punk scene had the two becoming friends. They began playing together when Waite moved south in 2010, these casual jams being the precursor to Primo!.
“Xanthe and I started the project as a two-piece: Xanthe playing bass and myself playing guitar. We also write most of the lyrics together, which leads to why we often sing in unison. It seems like the ideas are always quite a joint effort,” DelConte Race says.
A commitment to co-writing the lyrics is more unique than the norm, and an approach that asks for a degree of trust not existent in every band’s dynamic. “We’ve known each other since I was about six or seven. We’re very comfortable with each other. There’s a spontaneity and openness to explore ideas in conversation and also in music,” Waitesays.
Their words take day-to-day processes and distort them into a hazy, urban surrealism. Non-sequiturs of inner monologue blend with corporate management-speak and pieces of overheard conversations drifting between commuters on the street.
“The observation of our immediate lives in the city is a big part of it. We’ve been writing these lyrics while going to university and trying to find jobs. We attempt to deconstruct our daily experiences and abstract them,” Waitesays.
“The songs are really connected with our reality. They’re not personal songs about love or friendship, they’re more a retaliation against having to fit in with a system of work and labour that we don’t enjoy.
“I also find influence from listening to people’s stories, and talkback radio. I heard a story about a guy who misspelled his name on a form and then forever after that point had to be that person – the misspelled version of his name,” Waiteexplains of the song ‘Future’. “I would definitely say we really like the minimalism of Iggy Pop’s lyrics,” DelConte Race adds.
Their music has a distinct city-centric atmosphere, with frequent shifts of texture and abrupt halts such as in the song ‘Mirage’. It evokes a mood similar to the Siouxsie and the Banshees song of the same name, but as a conceptual similarity more so than a strictly musical one. In general, the post-punk approaches like minimalism and contrast come through in natural, unlaboured ways.
“We don’t set out a goal of what to sound like. We are mostly self-taught and it’s almost not possible for us to ‘play songs like this’, we just play in the way that we know how to,” DelConte Racesays.
The strong emphasis on voice is a captivating element of the record, placed at the forefront. There’s harmony, but more often there’s unity. “Suzanne [Walker, drummer] also sings. There’s not really anything like singing all together. And to hear the combination of the voices and sometimes being unsure of whose voice is whose is quite interesting. Even if there’s a wrong note a bit too far out, I like how it gets drawn back in,” DelConte Racesays.
The album was recorded with Al Montfort, Waite’s bandmate in Terry. As of November last year, Primo! have a fourth member and full-time bass player in Amy Hill, also of Terry. “I think that having the bass has strengthened the live sound a lot. She’s a great bass player and has fitted in with everything seamlessly,” Waite says.
Both bands will be heading to Europe in August for two weeks of touring each. “I’m looking forward to meeting the people at Upset the Rhythm who are putting out the record. We’ll be going to Denmark, Austria, France, England and possibly Germany. No Italy – as much as that would’ve been fitting. Maybe next time.”
