Piccoli Giochi (Little Games) / Sento Crescer L'Erba (I Can Hear The Grass Grow)

Released in 1966 on the Car Juke Box label, Piccoli Giochi/Sento Crescer L'Erba serves as a distinctive example of the Italian beat movement. Formed in Milan, I Persiani were part of a wave of bands influenced by the energetic, guitar-driven sound emerging from Britain and the United States, yet they infused their work with a distinctly Mediterranean sensibility that marked the transition of Italian pop music in the mid-sixties.

The band's approach to the record emphasized the era's experimentation with garage rock aesthetics and earnest, melodic songwriting. While the track Sento Crescer L'Erba is a cover of the Move's I Can Hear the Grass Grow, the band utilized the studio setting to adapt the psychedelic undertones of the original for an Italian audience. Though the band did not achieve widespread commercial dominance, the single remains a sought-after relic for collectors of sixties beat music for its authentic capture of a short-lived but vibrant period in Italian rock history.