London trio Bar Italia formed in 2019, and though the world of live music screeched to a halt the following year, they powered through by writing and recording at full steam. They released their studio debut, Quarrel, in September 2020, showcasing an understated sound that joined lo-fi postpunk with indie-pop experimentation redolent of the 80s and 90s. Two months later, they dropped an EP, Angelica Pilled, and just four months after that they issued their second full-length, Bedhead. Bar Italia’s sophomore album furthered their alt-rock leanings, with poppy detuned melodies and compositions so spacious they sometimes feel like they could disintegrate at any moment.
Bar Italia swiftly attracted adoring hype as will as skeptical castigation. Some people loved the intimate imperfections of the music, while others suspected that the band had infiltrated the industry via insider connections (they put out their first records on the trendy World Music label, run by UK polymath Dean Blunt) or scoffed that they played with more style than substance. The intensity of the discourse around Bar Italia was surely boosted by the members’ self-imposed anonymity—though to hear them say it, that wasn’t about creating a mystique. “We had nothing to talk about,” cofounder Jezmi Tarik Fehmi told the Guardian in October. “What’s interesting about hearing a band’s origin story when that was last week?”
In March, Bar Italia broke their media silence to announce they’d signed with indie-rock heavyweights Matador Records. They’ve since released two more records: May’s Tracey Denim and this month’s The Twits. The former was a major step up in terms of songwriting and musicianship, fleshing out moods and arrangements with urgent, propulsive guitar lines. The latter, recorded in a home studio in Mallorca, Spain, largely reverts to chill mode, with the single “Worlds Greatest Emoter” providing a dance-worthy exception. Bar Italia aren’t reinventing the wheel—nor do they claim to be—but I can easily imagine someone seeing them play and immediately going home to start their own band.
Bar Italia Mika Zhané opens. Sun 12/10, 9 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, sold out, 21+
Bar Italia Noise Shrine opens. Mon 12/11, 9 PM, Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western, $20, 21+