On their fifth album in the space of five years, avant-garde indie-rockers Bar Italia are unusually attuned to commercial sounds. On ‘Some Like It Hot’ they have taken notes from the early 2000s post-punk and garage-rock revivals, with hints of Britpop, folk, and shoegaze sprinkled throughout.
The London trio have eschewed the air of mystique (read: no interviews) they cultivated in their formative years, and they’ve also lost some of the character and spirit that inhabited their earlier records. In seeking wider appeal they have made a muddled record that seems to do too much and too little all at once. There are some soaring highs but, for the most part, the songs here are bland and lacking ideas.
Rooster is the most convincing hit on ‘Some Like It Hot’, with an insatiable hook and an enthralling distorted guitar outro, while Eyepatch is a spiky punk tune where Nina Cristante’s delivery of the line, “Cross my mind / it feels like heaven / it feels like having the worst time ever,” brims with attitude. It’s a far cry from their usual languor.
Marble Arch is another highlight, encapsulating Bar Italia’s offbeat and idiosyncratic sound. Underscored by a stumbling piano waltz and Cristante’s nonchalant intonation, which works to both complement and contrast with Sam Fenton’s Carl Barat-esque drawl.
Many of the songs are lyrically abstract, while the music creates the vibe. The lurching oddity Bad Reputation immediately recalls The Stranglers’ classic Golden Brown, with its prominent harpsichord dirge igniting a sense of disquietude, while Cowbella sounds like it could have been included on Bloc Party’s 2006 smash ‘Silent Alarm’, with its drums invoking a sense of urgency rarely seen again on ‘Some Like It Hot’.
The off-kilter I Make My Own Dust is punctuated by spoken-word sections and Cristante’s screams, while quieter, more introspective tracks such as Plastered and The Lady Vanishes accentuate the air of eeriness introduced on Bad Reputation. Elsewhere things are more straightforward as the jangly introduction to Fundraiser soon dissipates into a generic indie-rock tune, all crunching guitars and airy vocals.
For the most part ‘Some Like It Hot’ lacks direction, regurgitating hits of the past with far less precision. The album lacks the creativity of ‘The Twits’ and ‘Tracey Denim’, with Bar Italia opting to play it safe, which isn’t for them.
Bar Italia Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Wed March 18 2026 - DUBLIN Button Factory
Thu March 19 2026 - BELFAST Empire Music Hall
Fri March 20 2026 - GLASGOW St Luke's
Sun March 22 2026 - LEEDS Leeds Irish Centre
Tue March 24 2026 - MANCHESTER Manchester Academy 2
Wed March 25 2026 - BRISTOL Bristol Trinity
Thu March 26 2026 - LONDON Roundhouse
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