It’s such a wonder that in a small, gray town where there’s not much to do breeds the strangest, most eclectic music of the festival so far this year. Hailing from Novi Luguri an hour north of Genoa comes a heady mash up of 70’s alt rock, blues, acid rock and funk. Founded just in 2012, yMallah (pronounced “Y” Malla) sound like they came straight out of one of Frank Zappa’s acid nightmares. The songs off the band’s debut seven-song EP Mallah reveal the jam quality of the band’s playing style—as they say “improvisation is the key to the songs”—but each one is well-constructed with the power to turn a casual listener into an instant fan. The passion and conviction that comes out in the execution of their songs is impressive. The keys play a strong role in their music, bringing on comparisons to bands like The Doors. The singer definitely has a little bit of Jim Morrison bottled inside of him, but overall the music of yMallah is way more delirious and frenetic than even The Doors could pull off. “Steven’s Son” is a good example of that, sounding like a collision between White Album Beatles and the totally off-the-wall-at-all-times Les Claypool. At their most serious the band tackles social topics like the eternal struggle between oppressor and oppressed, but easily get side tracked into a fantastical, nonsense world of their own creation. For any lover of 70’s blues-rock or anyone looking to wrap their head around something totally new this is a great album. The lineup of the band includes Luke Benincasa on drums, Gerardo Baldassarre on vocals, Stephen Bonzi on guitar, Edward Traverso on keyboard and Gabriele Roselli on bass. yMallah rocked out this year at The Claque in Genoa for Emergenza Festival Italia, making it all the way to the semifinals of the contest. To read up more about their live shows, make sure to check out Emergenza.net. They will blow your mind.

MC