It’s a sunny July day, you’re at an Italian bagno, and Italy’s Top 40 Hits have been blasting since 8 AM. After the fifth repetition of the unshuffled playlist, you’re wishing for something, anything, else to play. Whatever idea you had of a tranquil day on the coast is being ruined by the constant club music pumping in the background.

And it’s not like you can escape the songs once you leave the bagno: shops, restaurants, stores, bars, and supermercati across the boot all play them too, following you from your morning al mare to the depths of your consciousness, playing on repeat in your head as you desperately attempt to fall asleep. These, in essence, are tormentoni, those indefatigable, catchy, never-that-musically-advanced songs that take on somehow even more personality in summer.