5° Braccio

Biography

5° Braccio was formed in February 1982 and split in February 1983. The first line-up was me on guitar (I was then under the name of Takkop, later called Tax...), Sergio on vocals, Orlando on bass and Paola on drums. A few months later Orlando switched on drums, Filippo entered on bass and Mara got in as the second vocalist. The only recording existing on vinyl is a song called "Mai più Tortura" on a compilation EP called Papi, Queens, Reichkanzlers & Presidennti by Attack Punk Records. There...

5° Braccio was formed in February 1982 and split in February 1983. The first line-up was me on guitar (I was then under the name of Takkop, later called Tax...), Sergio on vocals, Orlando on bass and Paola on drums. A few months later Orlando switched on drums, Filippo entered on bass and Mara got in as the second vocalist.

The only recording existing on vinyl is a song called "Mai più Tortura" on a compilation EP called Papi, Queens, Reichkanzlers & Presidennti by Attack Punk Records. There are several contributions on tapes, both on tapes I was doing at the time like Assillo Politico and Torino 198X (both compilations with local bands) and several international comps like Music on Fire by BCT and Lorteland by Boston Tea Party Tapes.

Some footage of some songs and an interview also appear in the movie Virus - Il Film by Shake Edizioni Underground. Virus was a squat in Milano, one of the most important places for the scene in those years. (Get some clips here.) The band was strictly connected with the very first punk scene in Torino and especially with the so-called Collettivo Punx Anarchici ("Anarchist Punx Collective") in Torino, involved in organizing gigs and actions in the area.

As you may get from the titles at least (Mai piè tortura = No more torture, Occupazione = Squatting, Repressione = Repression), the lyrics and the stand of the band were quite political. The name itself is self-explanatory since 5° Braccio (5th Arm) was supposed to be the the "political section" of the San Vittore jail in Milano. Eventually we discovered later on that this was not the case...

The use of political slogans (not really the ideas behind them) was the actual reason for the band to split in the beginning of 1983. Me and Orlando went on to form Negazione with the idea of a more hardcore approach in the music and lyrics that would be "political" as well but avoiding the abused slogans.

Discography compiled by Federico, Band History written by Roberto Tax Farano Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.