Spaccanapoli

When you take your name from the street that divides a city, you need a lot to say. And Spaccanapoli, which literally means "split Naples," is a very vocal band, with deep roots in the city's history and hands reaching to its future.

To understand Spaccanapoli, you almost have to understand Naples itself, an ancient Italian city founded by the Greeks, a place where religions of all stripes (from cults to Christianity), cultures and politics coexist. Like all cities, it's a place in constant flux. The original buildings of Spaccanapoli have been torn down, replaced by upscale shops, a sign of Naples' aspirations. But the band has far more in common with the working classes of Napoli. Its foundation was laid in 1973 with the formation of Gruppo Operaio E'Zezi, a musical collective put together by workers at the city's Alfa Romeo factory. They played strongly political music but used traditional local folk forms, giving a forum for many voices over the years. However, in 1999, political differences saw the core members of Spaccanapoli break away from E'Zezi to start their own group.

All native Neopolitans, they've kept firmly to their roots. You can hear the tarantella and the tarramuriata (originally a sensual dance for couples where the rhythm was beaten out on castanets, the left hand for the male, the right for the female) in Spaccanapoli's music, and the band frequently sings in the local dialect. Still, on the group's debut album, Aneme Perze (or Lost Souls, which refers to an old Neopolitan cult of the dead), used bass and some subtle sampling to fill out the mostly acoustic sound. Although as political as E'Zezi, the record wasn't full of sloganeering, choosing instead to make people think, connecting the dots between the struggles of the past and present. After a period of silence the group reemerged in late 2005, renamed Spakka and with a slightly revamped lineup. —Chris Nickson