The Pythons – Four Stones

THE PYTHONS
FOUR STONES
Released 2003 (The Pythons)

Track List:
01. Black Stone
02. Shadows
03. Texas Queen
04. Hide

Band:
Francesco Castoldi – vocals
Nicolo Donati – guitar
Luca Umidi – guitar
Luca Minichiello – bass
Giorgio Costa – drums

Production:
Produced and mixed by Danilo Di Lorenzo.

Review:
The release has been sitting on my desk for awhile, too long in fact, and I am only now giving it a spin. Any band that starts their name with “The” always scares me, usually that is a sign that a group will have strong punk tendencies, but luckily this Italian act throws that generalization out the window. This five-piece has more in common with Bon Jovi and Slik Toxik than any punk influenced band, and that makes this reviewer happy.

  In fact these four tracks would have made for a very mature follow-up to Slik Toxik‘s Doin’ The Nasty. “Shadows” is a dark number with an infectious chorus, while “Texas Queen” is an up-temp pop-metal song that takes the listener back to the days of hair metal. “Hide” is the standout track on Four Stones however, gruff vocals (at times reminding me of the Killer Dwarfs) layered overtop of glam riffs makes for a pretty cool sleaze song.

  I guess I shouldn’t judge books by the cover, seeing as this one exceeded all expectations. But at least I did throw it into the CD player, and I’m glad I did. Italy seems like a strange breeding place for new melodic hair metal, but The Pythons have done a great job. Check out www.thepythons.it while waiting for their full-length to come out.

Reviewed by Skid for Sleaze Roxx, December 2004.

Buy The CD:
Purchase at eBay.com