Thirty-seven years after the release of “Rane’n’Roll”, the debut album by Cagliari-based Joe Perrino & The Mellowtones, originally issued by Florence’s IRA Records in 1988 and later acknowledged as a small classic of Italian new rock, the accompanying insert—missing from the original edition—is finally produced for the first time. This long-awaited element restores completeness and historical value to a work that for decades lacked its customary textual and visual documentation.
Published in 2025, the booklet collects the complete lyrics of all the album’s tracks along with an unpublished critical essay by Federico Guglielmi, a leading voice in Italian music journalism and former producer of “Love The Colours”, the band’s first EP. The lyrics of the eleven songs—now finally accessible in their original form—paint a sonic and narrative landscape alternating energy, sensuality, irony and melancholy, where the road, the night, the beach and desire become metaphors for freedom and survival.
“Rane’n’Roll” stands as one of the most authentic and visceral experiences to emerge from the Italian independent scene of the late 1980s. Joe Perrino, a charismatic and unclassifiable figure, leads the Mellowtones through a universe of urban blues, wild garage rock and theatrical rock’n’roll, poised between rebellion and poetry. The insert restores the full weight of the words and imagery that animated that season, while also offering a valuable document for collectors and for anyone wishing to rediscover the roots of a raw, Mediterranean and anarchic sound.
The graphic design of the edition follows the spirit of the original vinyl, ideally completing its artistic conception. A small collectible object, produced with philological care, bringing back to light the voice and vision of an era when Italian rock still spoke with instinct, truth and passion.
This edition was released in conjunction with a crowdfunding campaign held in 2025, aimed at paying due artistic tribute to Joe Perrino, the musician who was the main driving force behind the project.
