La Piramide di Sangue: "Io Sono la Tigre"

When a seven-piece psych-rock band from Turin announce they’ve crossed “middle Eastern melodies, Mediterranean folklore and spiced teas,” you expect the most precious art installation on earth. Luckily La Piramide di Sangue are songwriters first and cultural pioneers second, and keep their ideas light on this four-minute slice of funky voodoo music. Mixing together synths, two guitars, two basses, drums and clarinet, La Piramide sound like a blues orchestra having a group hallucination. It’s hard to know how serious to take them when they say they’ve been inspired by scented streams running under the Egyptian Museum.

Folklore aside, it’s obvious that frontman Gianni Giubelena is having a whale of a time on “Io Sono la Tigre.” Playing a looping guitar riff that only pauses for three quick bashes on the drums, his band combines bongos, tambourines, and the most sinister flute since Moriarty’s greenhouse. “Tigre” has an infectious and simple melody, and with the addition of Giubelena’s wah-wah guitar sounds like Hendrix hypnotizing a cobra. The forthcoming 12” is out on limited red vinyl and if it’s as loco as this you should keep it in storage till you host your next limbo-themed death party.

► “Io Sono la Tigre”