Name a band that has their records distributed by Southern Lord and Dischord? That toured with Shellac and June of 44? Who was able to record albums with Steve Albini and Don Zientara? Hard one? Yes, maybe, but there is one - Three Second Kiss. Three Second who? Three Second Kiss from Italy. Nevermind all these accomplishments and circumstances, there are not enough people who know about the trio for whichever reason. But that needs to be changed and therefore we are very happy to do our share. When they started, the trio was located in Bologna and now 2/3 of them live in Catania, Sicily and only one of them remains in Northern Italy. The fact that they have a new record out, From Fire I Save The Flame (out via Overdrive Records) is not amazing per se - but that this record sounds as fresh as their former material. It is as urgent and driven as their earlier records. We talk with the “two Sicilians” about the new songs, their band’s history, life in general and many specific details - please listen to this amazing Post-Hardcore recordm check out our review and enjoy our interview!

Ah, the Noise and Post-Hardcore scene of the late 80s to mid-90s! When people were listening to Shellac and Fugazi and did not care whether these two bands were sharing the same scene, because they were very different things but shared something much more important: Artistic vision. Integrity. A non-offensive no-bullshit attitude. Some seriousness without being overly severe about it. And most of all - a way of caring about the music and less about the egos. All of that applies to Three Second Kiss as well.

These three guys are able to still the longing of anyone who seeks to find “new” bands that (seem to) share these ideas. However, these guys are not new - but their record From Fire I Save the Flame is their newest one and it is nothing short of amazing. One can feel that the guys took their time hewing out these songs from a massive block of Noise and early Post-Hardcore. If you want to find out why it took them 12 years since their last record, check out our interview!

One thing that stands out among all the cool things are the personality that all three bring to the table: The charming vocals by bass player Massimo and flamboyant without being selfish. One can hear a special kind of intonation and artistic expression which all the while is still pretty earthbound and warm. It is rootsy and aiming for lofty spheres. When he shouts it’s as if his voice starts at the bottom of a dry valley and then flies all the way to the highest peaks of the Apennin The riffs, licks and hooks performed by guitar hero Sergio seem obsessed by the idea of creating a rectangular space in the middle of a sometimes slightly dissonant round peg. And then there is drummer Sacha, and what can I say… give that man an award. This might be the shiftiest drumming performance I have heard in this genre in a pretty long while. He even has a certain signature sound when he gives his toms four or six pretty machine gun hits, only to completely change time signatures completely in the next moment, moving from a straightforward Punk groove into the most diverse and difficult patterns. Somehow this diverse drumming brings him closer to a Jazz drummer than he probably thinks, but to me he is definitely up there - just listen to a track like “First Blood Spills” which is not even the most “complicated”. However, as I mentioned before - these three guys are really, really good at what they do but they never try to outperform the other. No, they put any selfishness aside and rather let the songs shine. And yes, they do shine like a rough diamond in the sun, whose uncut and unpolished outside does not the reflect the light in any predictable way but shoots them off in many different, unforeseeable directions. This unpredictability is surely one of the biggest assets of this record because this way you are spellbound, shuffling on the edge of your seat and waiting for more new things to discover.

From Fire I Save the Flame is already out via Overkill Records and it’s also, of course, available from the band’s own Bandcamp page so you might be heading this way but you can also watch the interview we did with Three Second Kiss and simultaneously purchase the record.