I believe I first heard this band about six months after their first release. It was through a friend with good taste who had posted one of their songs called, "All I Want Is You". One listen was enough to have it stuck in my head and it's been there ever since. I immediately made sure to look into Mega but didn't find much information. I had even heard rumors they broke up but still kept my sights in their direction, hoping for a sign of life and it finally happened in the form of a full length LP named "Life Sucks, But I'm Ok". This was not only a sign of life but also a great discovery I'd like to share with you!
The songs were recorded, mixed, and mastered by Frederic Mazzei during November of 2013 at New Mood Recording Studio. The sound turned out great! A cover depicting the entanglement of two wrestlers and a referee, ties in quite well with the record title. This and the layout were a joint effort between Robi and Raffaele with a nice retro photo of the band contributed by Ally Bubblegum. The release was a co-effort by Mega and One Chord Wonder on March 1st,2014. This is an extremely limited pressing of 150 copies. 120 on black and then 30 on color vinyl with a digital download of course.
In their own personal approach, Mega is overall punk rock with lots of lovely melodic parts in their song structures. There also is a melancholic/darker undertone in the way they sound, you'll especially catch this in Robi's amazingly rich and unique vocal tone, but they retain a good pop sensibility and never go into the dreaded emo territory. In listening to the first track, "Break The Ice", it's obvious the band has grown into an even stronger presence and it's great to hear this so clearly from the start. I did find out in asking about any special details for this record that tracks 2, 3, and 4 are actually a mini trilogy honoring Italian film maker, Sergio Martino who's quite famous for his contributions to the giallo genre. They all carry movie titles from this director and even though I'm not familiar with them, I can really sense a great translation to music of the giallo style(mystery/horror fiction) after reading up on it a bit. Even with those three having a separate purpose, you'd never know it as far as their having a good cohesiveness to the other songs. My hopeless romantic tendencies as a listener drew me right over to tracks like "Shoot Straight From My Heart" and "Can't Let Her Go" but my favorite is "The Art Of Ruin". Even though it's a little sadder in emotion, the irony and humor with a reference towards MacGyver in the lyrics make me smile. That leaves a few more tracks to finish it out and then the easy choice to listen through again!
I've been streaming this a lot on my headphones since the release and cannot wait to own a physical copy!! Go give it a listen and don't wait too long to pick it up from One Chord Wonder. 150 copies disappear pretty quickly!! Also stay tuned to Mega's facebook page. I'm glad I did!
Mega is:
Robi Tuono - Guitar/Vocals
Dany - Guitar/Backing Vocals
Mitan - Bass
Raffaele - Drums
All songs written by Mega
Tracks
1. Break The Ice
2. Your Vice Is A Locked Room
3. The Strange Vice Of Mrs. Wardh
4. All The Colors Of The Dark
5. Shoot Straight From My Heart
6. Can't Let Her Go
7. 501st Legion
8. Piranha '78
9. The Art Of Ruin
10. Pretend To Be Happy
11. A Fantastic Fear Of Everything
12. Meant To Me
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