Label: Dallas Records
Release date: June 2021
Compilation length: approx. 240 min (3CD)
Genre: Alternative Rock (Punk Rock / New-Wave / Post Punk / Art Rock / Synth-Pop)
Rating: 9.5/10
It was 1976. Nobody questioned anything, nobody thought about anything. We had the Fičo and plenty more. Even the crime of speaking your mind. Yugoslavia, of course. Right before the power cuts and the gas ration coupons. And now fast-forward to 2021. Because you realize that 30 years ago they promised us a second Switzerland, and what we got was Germany in the mid-1930s, where at least we get to ‘sweat’ a lot.
Luckily, music stays timeless. Music that was born in one specific era in one specific place. Right in the middle of the Kvarner Gulf, in the city of Rijeka. That’s where it went off in the second half of the seventies, when a real new wave of punk madness was unleashed. Like a bolt from the blue, built on the solid core of the magical Rijeka-Ljubljana-Zagreb triangle, with not a shred of refinement or manners, and with a careless racket of shocking proportions, it announced loud and clear that a new generation of rebels was hitting the streets, shaking out its sermon through the unique phenomenon of punk rock music!
Ladies and gentlemen! In front of me is the reissue of the hefty triple-CD compilation “Riječki novi val – Antologija”, which first came out on Dallas Records way back in 2008. This is an enormously important document that lays out, in one place, the whole story of Rijeka’s musical pulse through bands from three different musical waves. A story that became, and remained, a phenomenon of its own. Not just as part of the rock legacy of the former shared country, but a absolute one-of-a-kind on a global scale.
The reissue once again comes as three CDs. The musical substance stays unchanged. No new track has been added, and none has been dropped. The historical cross-section remains the same. What has definitely been updated is the packaging, which now has far more ‘cardboard’ (paper) content, meaning it’s considerably friendlier to the environment. It also includes an updated and expanded foreword. The facts and credits have been brought up to date as well, both in the main booklet (by far the most substantial) and in the other three that come with each of the compilation’s three CDs. The design itself (the look) has been updated too, giving the product much more aesthetic appeal.
It’s honestly hard to say anything more, hard to add anything at all, when something like this hits the market. It’s an outstanding cross-section of the music scene between roughly 1977 and 1989, showing the development and growth of the rock phenomenon in Rijeka in the most selfless and authentic way possible. It captures the very beginnings, embodied by the pioneering rock n’ roll souls of the first dilettantes of the cult bands Paraf and Termiti. The legacy of those two bands soon took root in the bands that followed, among others: Umjetnici s ulice, Grč, Proces, Istočni izlaz, Mrtvi kanal, Walter, Sikters. Let 2, Let 3 and Excess, who carried the movement onto the wings of a new wave of musical expression.
This movement wasn’t special only for the territory of the former shared country; it’s a cultural and artistic phenomenon you could call global, unique in every respect. This compilation offers insight into the evolution of Rijeka rock, from the primal beginnings of the first punk bands, through new wave, pop, avant-garde and art rock. Even in the days of “brotherhood and unity,” Rijeka breathed in, through its sexual lungs, the air of innovation blowing into the Kvarner Gulf. It’s an undeniable fact that young Rijeka enthusiasts diligently followed the trends in rock music through the eighties, which came blowing in on Western winds. That’s how quite a few great bands were born, expertly combining their original alternative-rock stamp with a fashionable new-wave aesthetic, post punk and a distinctive artistry. Easily placed here are the works of: Laufer, Grad, Ogledala, Fiume, En Face, Vava, Idejni nemiri. The peak of musical experimentation and daring, in its pursuit of artistry and eclecticism, culminated in creations of a light electro-pop character (Cacadou Look, Denis & Denis), or even art pop (Xenia). The common denominator of all these upgrades, which emerged in Rijeka gradually through the eighties, is the great punk eruption with Termiti and Paraf. On this compilation you can also follow the stylistic development and artistic growth of the bands.
When it first came out in 2008, the compilation was hugely significant also because it brought previously unreleased tracks by Denis & Denis, Konjak, Transmisia, Fit and Laufer, and it was also the first time the work of Paraf made it onto a sound carrier. Besides material from bigger, well-known bands, the triple compilation documents the output of many smaller, obscure bands whose names have practically sunk into oblivion today, but thanks to this release, even they don’t go unheard. After all, they’re co-creators of the Rijeka rock phenomenon.
A special place on the compilation also goes to the moments devoted to the weirdness of some especially obscure new-wave musical adventures. These belong, for example, to Kaos, to the excesses of Transformatori, and not even the lucid schizophrenia of the musical maneuvers of Strukturne ptice escapes it.
One of the rare blunders that showed up on the first release of this compilation back in 2008 has sadly been preserved on the reissue too. The second disc and its last track, the 24th, is not on the CD, though it’s on the list. It’s the track Rusi dolaze by Via Viktor Kunst, which is missing, so the second disc ends with track 23 (second to last on the list), a live version of the Sikters track U parku. You have to be forgiving of the material on the three discs now and then. With the dismal quality of the live version of the track NNNI by Vijetnamska ruža, your leniency will certainly be called for and rewarded. Likewise, the closing part of the first disc will be grateful for your forgiveness when you run into the street accordionist Zdravko Lulić and his ear-piercing live medley Sjedi Ćiro medley. Patience while listening to the anthology also pays off with the track Nikad moj kurac by Excess, which is full of interruptions in the opening part.
The anthology isn’t arranged chronologically, which might bug some people. But the significance and quality of everything contained in this compilation, the spirit of a bygone yet timeless era, as well as the clear and unmistakable essence of Rijeka’s rock culture, turn every minus into a plus. On top of all the music, the package also includes an extensive additional booklet (alongside the individual ones belonging to each of the three CDs), with rare photos and contributions from authors who lived through the Rijeka new wave and were important activists of the movement, which gives the release a special extra charm and value. So this is a special document! A musical bible of special value. A package of explosive content from long-ago days, laid bare in an authentic and spotless light. It doesn’t get any deeper than this. For the nostalgics, it will mist up both eyes more than once.
Anyone who missed out on their own copy of this compilation when it first came out in 2008 now has a great chance to atone for that sin and get rid of that nagging trauma in their life once and for all, finally getting their hands on the reissue of the anthology, which is updated and even more lavish and rich in content.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Track list on the compilation:
CD 1
1. PARAF Rijeka
2. PARAF Narodna pjesma
3. TERMITI Ja ne želim ništa
4. TERMITI Mama s razlogom se brineš
5. MRTVI KANAL Oglasi
6. MRTVI KANAL Dijagnoza
7. ISTOČNI IZLAZ Plava Koverta
8. ISTOČNI IZLAZ Hladne ruke vruća ljubav
9. ISTOČNI IZLAZ Ujutro
10. OGLEDALA Samo ti
11. OGLEDALA Kako ti je sada
12. CACADOU LOOK Sama
13. XENIA Vjetar u kosi
14. GRAD Bol
15. GRAD Vrijeme promjena
16. WALTER Olupine
17. WALTER Boris
18. FIUME Vidiš li
19. IDEJNI NEMIRI Dosada
20. KAOS Samo prvom klasom
21. KAOS Roboti
22. KAOS Uzbuna
23. PROCES Šugavi dan (live)
24. VIJETNAMSKA RUŽA NNNI (live)
25. ZDRAVKO LULIĆ Sjedi Ćiro medley (live)
CD 2
1. TERMITI Vjeran pas
2. TERMITI Kišni razdraganci
3. GRAD Ima li nešto
4. GRAD Riječi
5. CACADOU LOOK Kao pjesma
6. CACADOU LOOK Ljubav i raj
7. OGLEDALA Ogledala su oko mene
8. XENIA Troje
9. XENIA Moja prijateljica
10. FIT Rijeka (live)
11. FIT Kao mačka
12. DENIS & DENIS Program tvog kompjutera
13. DENIS & DENIS Soba 23
14. DENIS & DENIS Braća Grimm i Andersen
15. UMJETNICI ULICE Humana revolucija
16. UMJETNICI ULICE Libanonska jutra
17. PARAF Zastave
18. PARAF Praznik
19. GRČ Noćas se Beograd pali
20. GRČ Još ima krvi
21. MRTVI KANAL Samo tijelo
22. TRANSFORMATORI Gospodar
23. SIKTERS U parku (live)
24. VIA VIKTOR KUNST Rusi dolaze (track missing from the compilation)
CD 3
1. LAUFER Moja voda
2. LAUFER Ljubav je bol
3. FIT Zaboravit ću sve
4. IDEJNI NEMIRI Bombe i bomboni
5. IDEJNI NEMIRI Mala mala
6. IDEJNI NEMIRI Ja sam narkoman
7. SPAHIJA I ULTRAGLUPAŠI Ultraglupaši
8. KONJAK Ona i ja
9. KONJAK Pretežno vedro
10. EN FACE Kuća
11. LET 3 U rupi od smole
12. LET 2 Zora
13. LET 2 Let
14. STRUKTURNE PTICE Hramovi
15. STRUKTURNE PTICE San
16. GRČ Teške čizme na nogama slobode
17. VAVA Stigma
18. TRANSMISIA Šume umiru
19. EKSCESS Nikad moj kurac
20. PORKO DIO Riba
21. RI VAL Učinimo nešto
