ITALIAN FOR BEGINNERS

They've sold millions of records in Europe and the U.K. With Rush!, Rome's Måneskin are introducing American ears to their infectious brand of glam-rock revivalism.

- JOE BOSSO

SOME BANDS JUST have that magical, elusive "it" factor. Take Italy's Måneskin. From the minute the Rome-based group appeared on the popular Eurovision Song Contest in 2021 and tore the stage apart with their riffy, rap-rock knockout "Zitti e Buoni," audiences embraced this dynamic, unapologetically provocative and unbelievably charismatic foursome as the genuine article. Lead singer Damiano David prowled the stage like a feral jungle cat, and guitarist Thomas Raggi tossed out fireball shrieks, snaggletooth rhythms and blasts of sinuous leads, all while bassist Victoria De Angelis and drummer Ethan Torchio attacked their instruments with fury.

And just as quickly, and just as predictably, writers seized on Måneskin - pronounced MOAN-eh-skin (it means midnight in Danish) and anointed them the new "saviors of rock 'n' roll." It's a heavy cross to bear, but from all appearances, the band seems to be taking it all in stride.

"The idea of 'saving rock' is a pretty big goal to put on ourselves," De Angelis says. "We really try not to think about that kind of thing. To us, rock music is a vehicle to express ourselves and to have fun - I think it's always been that. And that's what we do. We have a really good time when we play. I think the biggest thing we have going is, we try not to fit inside any kind of current mainstream format, because then we would be inauthentic. It would be fake."

Raggi agrees, but he also suggests Måneskin could have a more significant and lasting impact on their young fans. "It's not lost on us that a lot of people our age aren't playing instruments like they used to," he says. "If we can inspire them to play real instruments, that would be great. Maybe they see us on TV or onstage, jumping around and having fun playing our instruments, and they might think, Hey, I want to do that. I want to buy a guitar. I want to play bass. I think that's important."