Article By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway
The Livorno, Italy quartet we know and love, RANCHO BIZARRO, is back with the newly-released (April 13) ‘Mondo Rancho‘ EP from Argonauta Records.
This quick turnaround capitalizes on the band’s successful self-titled full-length breakthrough in 2017. Like that album, the ‘Mondo Rancho‘ EP is an enthralling gathering of instrumental tracks, four, in this case, deeply rooted in the stoner/desert rock realm.
Energetic and rife with thick riffs, these songs, “Zico Roll“, “Rancho Burger Deluxe“, “Mondo Rancho” and “Low Energy Salad“, take us on quite the ride. Tempo and time changes are engaged like the changing of gears in a manual drive auto. We get to ride shotgun to the aural emissions that Izio Orsini (bass), Matteo Micheli (guitar), Marco Gambicorti (guitar), and Federico Melosi (drums) now drive home.
If there is a downside of any kind, it would be that the “Mondo Rancho” EP is over much too quickly. At a little under 18 minutes of playing time, the listener is quick to get caught up in the bluesy psyche-boogie of the first song “Zico Roll” right from the start.
Then, by the time the incredible closing cut, “Low Energy Salad” (my favorite track), delivers its slow-paced, space rock fusion, you are famished for more. Much, much more in fact but seeing as “it is what it is”, we will have to make do with RANCHO BIZARRO‘s ‘Mondo Rancho‘ EP for now. But, what IT does do is freaking rock and that is more than enough for me.
