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There is a thread running through the continent, from the north of
Europe to the north of Italy.
A long, long thread, made of chilly melodies, bedroom post-rock
and lo-fi electronica. A thread spun by København Store, one of
Italian indie’s best-kept secrets.
Born as a duo at the beginning of 2003, after a journey in
Scandinavian territory (which explains the bizarre moniker), in time
the band evolved to a fuller line-up.
After the first two electronica-tinged demos, København Store
re-discovered guitar sound and moved towards a mutated,
subtly nuanced form of post rock. Like Mùm in a lockdown with
cLOUDDEAD and Godspeed You!Black Emperor.
“Action, Please!”, their first full-length album, was released in
February 2008 by Italian label 42 Records. It was produced by
Giacomo Fiorenza (who also worked with Yuppie Flu, Giardini di
Mirò, Austin Lace and Fuck, among others), and features vocals
by Jonathan Clancy (of Settlefish, A Classic Education and His
Clancyness), Alessandro Raina (of Giardini di Mirò and Casador),
Fabio Campetti (of Ed Wood) and Simone Magnaschi, formerly the
singer in Italian punk legends Stinking Polecats, and now a fulltime
member of København Store.
Its peculiar genesis makes “Action, Please!” come across as the
“You Forgot it in People” of the Italian Broken Indie Social Scene.
The album immediately became a hot item on the national music
press, obtaining enthusiastic reviews on the most widely-read
magazines and webzines. Some of the songs included in the album
also gained airplay on major radio networks.
The live experience, however, is where København Store actually
made the grade. Their shows (over 60 dates in the main live venues
all over Italy, in little over a year) are the stuff rock’n’roll is made
of: the often ethereal, jingling melodies of the album come alive in
a barrage of sound that never fails to amaze the audience. They
have shared the stage with bands such as Mono, Giardini di Mirò,
Apse, Solvent, Populus, Disco Drive and Envelopes. It is perhaps no
coincidence that the band managed to sell over 1,000 copies of
the album, without distribution, entirely at concerts and by wordof.
mouth.
The video for their first single (shot and directed by Stefano Poletti,
who also worked with several bands on the Italian mainstream
circuit) was picked up for airplay by several music channels,
among which MTV and MTV Brand:New.
March 2009 saw the Italian release of a new version of “Action,
Please!”, finally distributed in record stores by Halidon. The album
was previously available on iTunes and other digital stores, or
through mail order. In the wake of the record’s re-release, the
band is about to go back on tour. In the meantime, they are already
working on their second album, set to be released at the beginning
of 2010.
They are expected to spend the rest of 2009 touring Europe.
