Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Low Peak Charlie
Label: Celinka
Released: 2017
Length: 45:16
Rating: 4.5/5
Low Peak Charlie are one of the few Slovenian rock bands that signaled with their debut studio album that they weren’t just a seriously good new addition to the Slovenian music scene, but a band that has cultivated a recognizable style all its own from the very start, full of homegrown ideas and the defined charisma of its own authorial identity.
Five years have passed, and the band is back with its second studio album, »Čas disket je pozabljen«. Word has it the album came together largely thanks to the third prize the band won at Demofest in Banja Luka, which gave Low Peak Charlie enough of a financial boost. So it all comes down to money. Even with plenty of enthusiasm in the room, that alone doesn’t help you one bit, even though this band’s creativity and restless spirit of wild exploration should be protected by, at the very least, an official decree from the Slovenian Ministry of Culture. As it is, Low Peak Charlie keep fighting their way through our scene entirely on their own.
Packed with fresh ideas, incredible and endlessly effective variety and dynamic kinetic energy, »Čas disket je pozabljen« is an album that brings an artistic upgrade on what was laid down at the foundations by the remarkably bold and daringly sparkling studio debut »Kdo bo komu« (2012). »Čas pozabljenih disket« can shamelessly boast an even greater degree of polish in the arrangements themselves and tighter compositions, while still managing to hold on to that sense of spontaneous unfolding and moments of unexpected musical »derailment«. The new album makes no secret of the fact that in five years the guys have turned (technically, too) into even better and more mature musicians and composers. The result is an album that fully defines the band’s style of musical vision, and there’s no going back from it. This is the outfit Low Peak Charlie feel most comfortable in.
In terms of production, Low Peak Charlie stay true to pouring raw energetic authenticity onto the recording. That’s why this album is so alive. No surprise there: it was played like a live gig in the studio. And it certainly doesn’t lack voluminous »groove« seasoning this time around either. The band, which we can loosely tag as alternative rock, remains committed to effectively blending several genres together, so the labels crossover (»crossover«) and fusion (»fusion«) still fit perfectly. »Spiked, funked-up groove« rhythms create an extremely contrasting depth across the sonic picture, while guitar riffs »run riot« above them, set in a hyper-massive wall of sound with a metallic charge, which is often supported (and/or replaced) by the clean ring of guitar phrasing.
The lyrics keep their social bite, and that goes hand in hand with the character of the songs themselves. Andrej Kresevič is an excellent vocalist. He pours a wide, multi-colored range of vocal escapades into the songs, in which he can rage almost hip-hop style with the destructive fury of his vocal cords, or turn deeply tender and wistfully faraway in the heat of the moment (Le Roj). In short, with his untamed vocal punch and expressiveness the man handles any situation, and just as on the debut, he once again brings the messages of his superbly packed verses to life with great skill. They’re full of disappointment at the moral, emotional and spiritual plundering of modern society, and at the relentless fraying of social bonds, which is of course what the doctrine of capital ultimately wants to achieve, the one we were sold out to long ago by Brussels lapdogs and the rest of the bureaucratic hangers-on.
In any case, the band stays loyal to the musicality of its songwriting. »Čas disket je pozabljen« is also an album that will catch the attention of fans of musical oddness and daring, that is, shrewdly original inspiration, as well as unbridled sonic usurpation. Low Peak Charlie know how to speak to you like proper sonic terrorists, and with all the genre blending, you can’t overlook the influence of bands like Rage Against the Machine and early Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and a mention of Faith No More, both the character and the work, is entirely in order. The band can also be compared to the rhythmically well-versed groups that emerged on the international scene at the turn of the eighties into the nineties, like Living Colour or even Primus. But as said. Above all this, the band’s winning hand of aces is the fact that “Čas pozabljenih disket” is an album that deepens their wildly homegrown, self-grown artistry, which secures and cements the band’s special place on the Slovenian music scene! An album of real, authentic rock’n’roll rebellious fury for 2017! An album that already belongs in the running for one of the best rock releases of 2017 in Slovenia, and an album that has to be played on as many stages as possible. An album that stuns and shakes you with its sincerity, and finally, the kind of album that the Slovenian music scene is bleeding for in these new times.
Low Peak Charlie – Le Roj (official audio):
Lineup
Andrej Kresevič “Fučkar” – vocals
Luka Križman “Jimi” – guitar
Lovro Velušček “Lušči” – bass guitar
Blaž Kocina “Kocina” – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Sandi Čekada “Pek” – slide guitar on track no. 4
Tina Križman – backing vocals on track no. 3
Martina Kocina – backing vocals on track no. 3
Nika Vistoropski – backing vocals on track no. 3
Production
Robi Bulešić & Low Peak Charlie
Track list
1. Serijski perverznež levo desnih sredin
2. Resetiram se
3. Compadre
4. Le Roj
5. Votli izgovori
6. Zataknjen
7. Zataknjen outro
8. Rocknrolla
9. Specifični intro
10. Specifična gostota misli
