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UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS
Nell’ Ora Blu

Rise Above (2024)
Rating: 9/10

Continuing their strange journey, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats still prompt me to sort through my 60s and 70s VHS horror selection, only this time drawing my attention to the giallo genre via Italian master Dario Argento.

With this, the Cambridge, England-based band’s sixth full-length studio opus, there is little of that satanic garage-infused doom. Instead, we get chilled (in both senses of the word) by a rather thematic angle as the combo casts weird noir shadows which play wistfully alongside semi-psychedelia and sensual dreamscapes. Imagine if you will then something foggy, surreal and yet enchanting, but always lurking in the shadows is some unseen menace, a shady villain that seems to loiter in every 70s or early 80s thriller.

Uncle Acid trigger so many memories for the listener, especially if you lived through or are at least familiar with the decades I refer to. With the 19 tracks on offer there is a sense of sadness and longing, a haunting presence and an emptiness and lingering silence akin to when someone on the other end of the phone hangs up.

Nell’ Ora Blu conjures radio static and drama from the 1940s and 50s and demands you sit right next to the speaker of your stereo so as to be able to fully focus on such trickles of tension provided by the use of piano, synths and slow burning effects. Those expecting more metallic occult surges may be disappointed, but this is a band evolving with cinematic aplomb.

‘II sole sorge sempre’ is classic giallo pulsation, a mere Goblinesque introduction to bring suspense, but from here it’s a jamboree of unearthly delights where the band brings a mixed bag of soundscapes, many of which act as film scores complete with movie dialogue, like ‘Guistizia di strada – Lavora fino alla morte’ which eventually reaches a Beatles-esque flirtation. And then you also get the fragrance of 70s detective funk with ‘La vipera’.

Elsewhere, this enigmatic opus breathes like some lounge exotica experience (‘Pomeriggio di novembre nel parco – Occhi che osservano’) before shifting towards a serene and kaleidoscopic drift (‘Sola la morte to ammanetta’). I guess those seeking something heavier or darker, well, you clearly don’t understand the narrative here because even with those trippy vapours this album is still seedy in its undertones, just like those clandestinely created Italian movies the band pays tribute too. But at its heaviest, Nell’ Ora Blu slithers towards latter day Beatles, particularly on the superb ‘Il gato morto’.

I still don’t think the fuzzy potheads and stoners will fully appreciate this colossal work, unless of course they’ve seen movies like The Evil Eye (1963), Blood And Black Lace (1964) and The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1970). It’s a record that suggests that Uncle Acid can go in any number of directions, but whatever the result their output draws the listener in to its web of late night stalking, creepy phone calls, deep shadows and murderous reflections in cracked mirrors.

To quote Italian horror legend Dario Argento, “a good horror movie should make you think, question and disturb you on a deeper level”, and that’s exactly what Uncle Acid does with Nell’ Ora Blu, even with those creamy flights of fragile fantasy.

Neil Arnold

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