Artist: Grrizli Madams
Label: Radio Študent
Release: 2010
Duration: 20:50
Rating: 4.5/5
Slovenia’s club scene has always had plenty of hidden gems that can knock you flat live with a single chord, a coherent racket, animal instinct and a brutal urge to prove they’re no flash in the pan. Grrizli Madams are definitely no exception, but this trio, which has been forging itself in clubs since 2003, has gone through fresh metamorphoses, and the trust they won early on and the curiosity they stirred up kept the hunger to know more always one step ahead. A lot has changed since the raw, primal sound of the first demo from 2005, and the band has survived and, despite a smaller number of “culprits,” evolved and matured.
The Sava valley has spawned plenty of musical penetrators and tough-as-nails musicians, and the banks of the Blanca, or more precisely the Boštanj coordinates, are obviously the ideal spot for reincarnating the already written-off. Grrizli Madams are a name you can bet on when it comes to stubbornness and staying power. After a metamorphosis from thrash and death, a sudden cardiac arrest of the creative urge and a move into a new life with far more hypnotic and sexy desert sounds, Grrizli Madams decided to fill your ears with instrumentals only, no vocals, on their EP V vrtincu večnega miru. We’ve heard something similar from the Americans Karma To Burn on their tours, but no baggage of copycatting or fashion-word labels weighs on Grrizli Madams. The band is an unformulaic derivative of countless influences, and the post-rock melodies are spiced with stoner in a thoroughly delightful way. It sounds raw, but never repulsive or tasteless. Maybe it’s missing a dash of vocals, and the beast that slept until recently would easily eat you for breakfast while you barely put up a fight. Five tracks make a fitting overture for repeat listens. Opener Vrtinec slowly carves its first notches with that wah bass, Utelešenje fills you with a punkish urge to move and snap your neck vertebrae, and the rest, a soundtrack for this autumn day and plenty of others, tips over to the end all too fast. The band is a wrecking machine with a clear goal, three musical helmsmen and a metal pair of balls, and definitely not for delicate idea-less types who care first about a wretched rhyme, then glitter in their hair and clear orders to jump on every third beat.
So for some, Grrizli Madams may be a musical letdown when it comes to lyrics, or rather the lack of them. Personally, I’m all for the instrumental approach, since the broken English of most of the Slovenian scene, from Siddharta onward, is more an irritant and a constant allergy. After this dose of music I’m hoping for a full-blooded debut album soon and relentless staying power for many years to come! But after the standing ovation, it’s time for hard work and proving your true-believer chops and quality live on stage.
Lineup
Matej Hočevar – guitar
Miha Vodušek – bass
Gašper Prus – drums
Production
Žiga Zmazek & Grrizli Madams
Tracklist
1. Vrtinec
2. Utelešenje
3. Družba belega lotosa
4. Ton Ton Macoute Sux
5. Darko
