Date: 10.03.2018
Location: Cerkno / C.M.A.K. / Slovenia
The author of this piece had a planned trip to Zagreb and the Toto concert there fall through at the last minute. But then, just a day later, three women from Zagreb came to the Cerkno temple of rock’n’roll, C.M.A.K., all on their own. We’re talking about the alternative rockers Žen, who played Cerkno as part of the annual »Deuje Babe« festival. Žen are Eva Badanjak (guitar, synths, vocals), Sara Ercegović (drums, synths, vocals) and Ivona Ivković (bass guitar, synths, vocals). Last fall the girls released their third studio album »Sunčani ljudi«, and since 2014 this was their second visit to the Cerkno club C.M.A.K. in total.
As usual, gigs at C.M.A.K. are typically set for a late hour, and this one wasn’t much different. A nice turnout, around 70 people, welcomed the promising trio, who logically built the set around presenting the new studio album. Žen are musicians who know exactly what they want. Their musical vision is firmly chiseled, and it’s confirmed by the eclectic expression that runs through their original music, which makes them downright special and unique in the alternative rock underground. The new album has taken this meaty, clearly spoken artistic format of the band to a more mature level and strengthened it further, and on it the band proved that in its healthy evolution it keeps broadening and reinforcing its musical character. The band remains firmly focused on building hypnotic atmospheres. The essence here is minimalism, yet that demands a hugely well-planned arrangement of the building blocks of that very sound, and at gigs an extremely precise performance too. The girls are armed with synthesizers and extra “floor helpers” (pedals, effects pedals, pedalboards). There’s an Apple laptop too. There’s a lot of memorizing of sound loops, of layering sonic textures one over another, the music floats on rustling synth sounds, and into that the guitar, bass guitar and drums are set as the core. Žen use vocals more as an additional instrument. The lyrics certainly carry rich, expressive meaning, but they’re woven into the music in such a way that they work first and foremost as another building block of a gripping atmosphere.
The girls have it all figured out. Being perfectionists, they brought their own sound engineer along, who made sure the sound in the room was outstanding. Combined with the backdrops behind them and just two modest-strength spotlights, their gig went by almost like watching a movie. You closed your eyes and it blasted you somewhere beyond reality. You came off the ground and flew away, hovered, floated off. Seriously. The girls played superbly. They’re incredibly in sync with each other, they sense and feel each other extremely well. In rhythmic terms, Žen have it all figured out. An exceptionally warm, thickly wound and organically penetrating bass line, the punchy rock tone of the semi-acoustic guitar and razor-precise dictation of the rhythmic structures all worked in a glow of remarkable precision and unbelievable coherence. Add to all that the deft “dressing up” of the musical landscapes with synths and sound loops, and perfect hypnosis on the wings of Morpheus is here!
The gig was over in a flash, precisely because of the exceptional conviction with which Žen delivered it. An hour and fifteen minutes. Short and sweet. A band that knows exactly what it’s doing, what it wants and what it’s creating. With that energy and character, they can be a shining example to their musical peers.
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
