The Nuclear Tactical Penguins and their Fake News

THE Nuclear Tactical Penguins they are the most beautiful story of Italian music in recent years. The band formed by Riccardo Zanotti, Elio Biffi, Nicola Buttafuoco, Matteo Locati, Simone Pagani and Lorenzo Pasini, six friends from Bergamo who grew up together, releases the new album Fake News (Columbia Records/Sony Music Italy) to restart from the truth.

Anticipated by individuals Young Wannabes And Memories, already multi-platinum songs, contains fourteen unreleased songs that speak a lot about them, about the changes of recent years, about the pandemic that has stopped everything, especially the concerts, about the success that has overwhelmed them, passing through their gaze on society, with a language full of metaphors and puns which is now their signature. The Penguins tell the stories they live, which are a bit like everyone’s and they enjoy the incredible moment they are experiencing, never forgetting where they come from. «We rode in a van, we played in places with fifty people».

Now there will be 430,000 people on the ten dates on next summer’s stadium tour, with the first San Siro sold out in twelve hours “It’s amazing what’s happening”, they say. «Fake news starts this summer. We were in Cattolica, we talked about this and that. The life of a band is sharing not only stages, but also hotels, travel, expectations. In one of these expectations we started talking about fake news and how they can affect modern society. It seemed to us the right title to make an album that wants to be true». True in what they sing, true in how they show. They are the same six friends who in 2020 made themselves known to the public with Ringo Star at the Sanremo Festival and that from that moment on have experienced an ascending parable that has brought them to the top of the charts for months and finally to play in sold out arenas this autumn. There is a lot of loneliness inside, which shines in Hikikomorithere is a look at their craft and fear for the future in Zenthere is the ability to resist in hold on, the joy of the stage in stage diving, nostalgia and growing up in Class dinner. There are many clichés that become community, because they are easily shared. We talk about faith, travel, relationships. There are the themes of an entire generation, theirs, which however also reach the youngest and the oldest, thanks to catchy refrains and the ability to know how to play “pop”, popular. «The result comes from many years of work, but our strength is that we are the same. No one gets pissed off, or feels entitled to feel more important because these things happen. We are happy about it, but we like to work day by day».

There is great attention to words that is combined with a growth in sounds and style, from up tempo pieces to songwriting, between instagrammable phrases and inside jokes that contain their personal memories. The Penguins are music artisans who now know they have a lot more eyes on them. “We still live in the same houses, our reality hasn’t changed. We are in the studio two hours a day, every day. We haven’t gotten overwhelmed, we are hard workers and when something goes well we just want to do even better, working harder». But there are many expectations to be met «The fear that all this will end is there, but we want to last over time. We want to continue to surprise. This album is written to exorcise this fear». Their strength is being a band. «We have pigeonholed songs that have gone well, it cannot physiologically always go like this. Something won’t go well with some, but we’ll face it with the smiles ever. Being six helps on this too. We support each other.”

United more than ever, despite the fake news, precisely, on their breakup, which also becomes one of the four covers of the disc, each of which represents a different fake news, the Penguins shun stardom, continue to write for themselves, and watch to their audience, paying attention to everything they say «We have rejected many proposals, to remain consistent and faithful to what the public expects from us». Now attention passes to the stadiums, because if for them the most important dimension has always been that of live shows, they know that the time has come to stage a great show. «We have these months to work on dates to make them unforgettable».

Playlists

Emma – Wrong Leo Ascendant

Aiello – I’ll be back tomorrow

Niccolo Fabi – The man who stays in the dark