Artist: E.N.I.
Label: Dallas Records
Release: 2012
Length: 31:44
Rating: 3/5
What do you get when you combine a quartet of sweet little bunnies from Croatian vocal fiction in skin-tight outfits with lap steel and the producer’s arranging touch of a legendary Laufer guitarist? Vlado Simcich »Vava« and E.N.I.! So, something close to what should be setting the course for proper mainstream on the radio waves. A listenable bunch of songs that pick up the well-worn staple of E.N.I.’s seasoned, pop-flavored catchiness, propped up by serious, guitar-heavy playing that makes the whole thing so accessible.
The collaboration between »Vava« and E.N.I. is nothing new, it’s more of an established routine. In the past, Vava has already worked with E.N.I. in generous doses, contributing plenty of songs to the vocal quartet, including “Oči su ti ocean”, “Polaroid”, “Crna kutija” and “Jezero od mlijeka”. »Vava« is also all too well known to our own Neisha, for whom he wrote the lyrics to the song »Ljubav je domino«. »Vava« is a workaholic. While this EP was coming together, and it was out in express-train time, he also produced an album for the Rijeka singer-songwriter Anthony Kukuljan (The Ant) for his debut »L & P« (read: »Love And Pain«), and he also guested on the recently released debut of the Rijeka band Moskva, titled »Poligraf«.
The material on the EP isn’t equal in quality. If the opening track »Otključana vrata« is a solid announcement, the very next one, »Još jedno more«, is a moment that doesn’t really say anything tangibly interesting, and shows that with a bit more insight E.N.I. could have squeezed far more catchiness out of the chorus melody in the arrangement of a song that has real potential. The good news, though, is that the guitars keep right on neighing honestly. The keyboards wrap the guitar sound in an organ-style tone, firming up the core of the sonic backing and giving the song extra warmth, life and dynamics.
In Tokyo Boy, the girls take us back to the esoteric new wave synth pop of days long gone, where you won’t escape the accompaniment of ancient synthesizers, programmed rhythm patterns and sound effects from the late eighties and early nineties, when Pet Shop Boys and/or New Order ruled the pop map. The shift into hypnotic seductiveness, commanded by a sweet female vocal wrapped in the pleasant futurism of synthesizer sound, brings one of the EP »Ouija«’s definite highlights. So it’s not all just »rocking out« – rocking out on guitars as much as the character of E.N.I.’s music can bear. Tokyo Boy was recorded, arranged and sonically produced entirely by the legendary Davor Tolja, the leader of the once again kicking legends of the Rijeka new wave, or Yugoslav synth pop, Denis & Denis. A job done with distinction, and one that would work very well under his direction on a potential new album from Denis & Denis, too.
The less interesting moments of the EP are its two calmest songs. They don’t actually say anything interesting. Those are »S ulica Njujorka« and »Samo pola mene«, which Elivs Stanić contributed to this EP. Even though Elvis added keyboards to the guitar, with a bit of a lean toward Gershwin-style blues, swing and jazz turns in »S ulica Njujorka«, and despite his pedigree as an excellent jazz fusion guitarist, the song doesn’t convince.
The situation is saved by the very last track, the instrumental title cut »Ouija«, which is entirely »Vava«’s work. It’s ruled by a steel pedal arrangement and doesn’t hide a nice bundle of sonic experimentation and a bit of that coastal Mediterranean flair that involuntarily brings to mind the evergreen Albatros by Peter Green.
And that’s not all. Tucked away on the record is an extra track, which presents reworked versions of the E.N.I. standards “Oči su ti ocean” and, right after it, “Lijepa kao Sahara”. Carried out in a mature makeover from the otherwise highly credibly arranged originals, they create enough additional quality listening on this EP that we can safely stamp it a solid achievement. The sound of both well-known standards is even denser and more organic in its new outfit, and in chemistry with the female vocal it comes across even warmer and much sweeter to the ear, while the arrangements are welcomely enriched and lovingly backed up with lap steel too.
So the girls really did just open their mouths with gusto. Routinely, boldly, confidently. Everything else was handled, with enviable know-how, by the seasoned tomcats of the eternal Rijeka music scene! And that’s plenty for a bold achievement!
Lineup
Elena Tomeček – vocals
Nikolina Tomljanović- vocals
Iva Močibob – vocals
Ivona Maričić – vocals
Vlado Simchich “Vava” – lap steel, guitar, bass guitar
Bobo Grujičić – drums
Vladimir Tomić – bass guitar
Vedran Križan – keyboards
Elvis Stanić – bass guitar, drums, guitar
Davor Tolja – programming, synthesizers
Production
Vlado Simcich Vava, Davor Tolja, Matej Zec & Elvis Stanić
Tracklist
1. Otključana vrata
2. još jedno more
3. Tokyo Boy
4. S ulica Njujorka
5. Samo pola mene
6. Ouija
HIDDEN TRACKS:
Oči su ti ocean
Lijepa kao Sahara
