Despite the global popularity of the Eurovision Song Contest, its victors don’t often go on to achieve global success. That is, until a group of leather-clad Italian rockers who were barely out of their teenage years at the time scored a handful of viral hits in 2021. Setting them on a collision course with some of the industry’s most tried-and-true hitmakers, pop veterans like Rami Yacoub and the legendary Max Martin appear on what is set to be Måneskin‘s true breakout project, Rush!  And while they might not be the heaviest rock band in the world, they’re winning fans over because they know exactly how to tap into that visceral shock value that’s always made rock music so electrifying. 

Since Rush! is the band’s first project that’s mostly sung in English, we get to fully understand just how foul-mouthed frontman Damiano David can be, as he bolsters the band’s glam rock-tinged instrumentation with lyrics meant to mirror their sleazy and provocative performance style. There are countless artists in the revitalized pop-rock scene that love to let us know just how much they belong with the oddballs and the freaks, but Måneskin’s strength is in showing, not telling. 

While it can be a little expectedly formulaic, the switch-ups are some of the album’s biggest highlights. The tracks in their native Italian language find David at his most comfortable, and hearing his raspy vocals still breaking through during slower songs proves that he possesses one of the mainstream’s most unique instruments. A feature from Tom Morello and what is essentially a Vladimir Putin diss track top it all off. It remains to be seen if this guitar-based revival is merely a trend or if it’s here to stay, but Måneskin shows that the spirit of rock is still with the youth.