Artist: Billysi
Label: Dallas Records
Released: 2010
Length: 38:42
Rating: 4/5
2010 was a year of big discoveries. On the French-Swiss border, the Large Hadron Collider recreated the micro-conditions that existed right after the Big Bang, in the Canadian Arctic they dug up the fossilized remains of the missing link between marine and land mammals, and Billysi discovered the electric guitar. Joking aside, though, this discovery is only good news for the band, because the lads and the lass have managed to put together a fourth album that’s consistent, listenable and works on every level. Whether the shift from lighter pop to a harder sound is just a short-term experiment or a genuine result of spiritual growth and creative development for the foursome, the album they’ve just presented to the inner circle and the wider public can definitely be called a success.
The heated public debates that did a lot to promote Bite me are proof enough, and they were kicked off by the statements of the freshly awarded Dragan Bulič. By calling for support for Slovenian bands and pointing out that on the very same day Plavi orkestar play, the Bite me album launch is also happening at Cvetličarna, he managed to enrage a whole bunch of writers and quasi music experts, who started debating the quality of Slovenian music in the media at great length. Sure, Billysi have taken quite a bit of criticism in the past, but the comparisons that could be found in the press on this occasion were still pretty unfair. The Slovenian scene is simply not Sanja Grohar, and the fact that Saša Lošić, after years of musical loafing, decided to stretch his legs again and fill his pockets ties him to the cottage industry of singing beauty queens far more than it does Billysi. This band lives for music and would probably keep at it even if it earned them nothing at all. And with their latest album, they’ve also proven that critics who want to run down their music will have it harder and harder.
Bite me is a sensibly rounded and pleasant-sounding whole, with a red thread that, besides Urška Majdič’s excellent vocals, is the aforementioned guitar. It adds a completely new dimension to Billysi’s poetics, which gives the band more credibility and lets them stride confidently into the kingdom of modern rock. The guitar foundation, together with some eighties-style solo tricks, forms the skeleton of songs like Bite me and Hello hello, and effectively highlights their melodies in all the right places. The planet exploded draws on some of Eddie Van Halen’s best moments and his chromatic shredding from Humans being, but the nod is always discreet and fits the context of the song. In their new electric outfit, the choruses of Orion, Shouting and Obsession also wake up and come alive.
The album’s production is also at a fairly solid level by our standards, though it’s an open question whether it will meet the strict criteria of the foreign market, which, judging by the English lyrics, it’s primarily aimed at. English is the second innovation in Billysi’s new overall image, and the move can be a double-edged sword, since it could shut the band out of many domestic radio stations. Then again, whatever they can win in the wider European arena is worth far more than success on the modest home market. So the home crowd doesn’t feel left out, the album also has two songs in Slovenian – Lahko je preprosto and Nikoli nisi res sam.
So Bite me is a decisive step forward on Billysi’s musical path. Time will tell whether it pays off. In terms of content, the record doesn’t offer anything new, Billysi are still Billysi, and their music isn’t written for picky connoisseurs. Those folks will keep frowning at an album that, despite being undemanding, can’t be accused of lacking expressive and creative weight, and keep looking in it for reasons to stay in a bad mood. But for everyone else who wants to dig into a lively rock record with a modern sound and pleasant melodies, to unwind and recharge their batteries with it, Bite me is a perfectly good pick. And that’s really the whole point of music, isn’t it?
Lineup
Urška Majdič – vocals
Sergej Pobegajlo – bass
Matic Ajdič – guitar
Jure Doles – drums
Production
Billysi
Tracklist
1.Orion
2.Shouting
3.Dreams
4.Changes
5.Bite me
6.The planet exploded
7.Hello hello
8.Obsession
9.Chaos
10.Lahko je preprosto
11.Nikoli nisi res sam
