Friday Star & The Jersey Line
I’ve been following The Jersey Line since they were not even born: in early 2001 the previous version of the band was a trio named Friday Star which definitely imported the pop punk/emo youngest wave in the roman scene. At the time Rome was pretty known for its well developed hardcore scene, above all the vegan straight edge one that had the chance of be one of the most (if not the most) important alternative hardcore scenes in Southern Europe.
When Internet was still an embryonic privilege and the only way you could get to know new bands was to physically go to shows or to monthly check your fave local distros Friday Star injected a contemporary innovative sound into a circuit that looked like collapsing in a chaotic musical routine. Friday Star were in Japan right before Vanilla Sky could ever dream of having a record released out there, and used to work with the same manager (Alfredo Cappello) I would end up sharing my dreams and jobs with years later. Friday Star also were the first alternative pop punk / emo band to ever show up on TV national channels, proposing in English language a fresh new variation to the ever slow poor lock main stream scene. Last but not least the trio always proved itself capable of great live performance: Gianni, singer and song writer, has become since the very first demo a model and an inspiration for melodies and modern harmonies. It’s not a great news I’ve been trying to imitate him a lot during the “Waiting For Something” writing session.
Anyway fate wanted FS to end its journey years ago and to continue under the name of The Jersey Line with a new drummer. I’d be fairly wrong if I did not admit TJL is the natural modern indie evolution of FS younger sound. I’ve been at their show this week after an alienating day in the studio, skipping dinner just to see them back on the stage of the Traffic Live club and it was 100% worth it.
The Jersey Line has now a evolved line up which sees Gianni as a solo singer, Andrea on bass (as always), Leonardo on drums (Leonardo was the former The Gaia Corporation drummer I’ve been sharing a lot with) and Angelo on guitar. Their performance was pretty great and spontaneous, yet rough and natural. I like very much the new songs and I can’t wait to hear more stuff recorded.
If you’re a fan of the real roman scene, you gotta check those bands out.
The Jersey Line Official Myspace Profile – http://www.myspace.com/thejerseyline
Friday Star Official Myspace Profile – http://www.myspace.com/fridaystar
