Review – Guano Padano – 2 (Ipecac Records)

The name Guano Padano is completely new to me, but one look at the list of GP’s past and present collaborators (Marc Ribot, Mike Patton, Gary Lucas) tells me that those three Italian gents have a lot of connections in the music world.

As you might’ve guessed, the fact that  “2” came out on Ipecac and features Mike Patton certainly means something…and that something got to do with Ennio Morricone and spaghetti westerns.

The shadow of a great Italian looms large over this CD – in fact, much of it feels like a tribute to the works of Mr. Morricone. Then there are also surf-rock influences in tracks such as “Miss Chan”.

Unfortunately, much of the material presented on “2” comes across as being terribly generic – its not bad, by any means, but much of it lacks a certain spark to make the music anything more than a pleasant sonic wallpaper.

There are occasional moments when magic happens (case in point – sexy and stylish noir of “Lynch”), but for the most part the band sticks to tried, true and familiar way too often on “2”.