Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Hladno pivo
Label: Gajba Records
Release: 2015
Runtime: 51:97
Rating: 4/5
Zagreb alternative rockers Hladno Pivo are the stuff of legend. Since the turn of the millennium, they seem happy to put out their studio records at a pace of one every four years. That evidently matches the band’s biorhythm. »Dan zatvorenih vrata« packs fifteen tracks and over 50 minutes of music, which is honestly too much for a band that started out as a punk rock outfit. But once you dig into the new studio album, it gradually becomes clear that there are no time-wasting filler moments on it at all.
Over the years the quintet has matured and mixed a good dose of musicality into its punk rock starting points, deftly seasoning it with folk elements and the typical melodic flavor that comes from the geographic region that gave us the riches of yu-rock. »Dan zatvorenih vrata« deepens the softening of the arrangements and the testing of the untested. The accordion, mandolin and tamburicas no longer come as a surprise, and keyboards matter more and more. So it’s no wonder that a whole bunch of guests take part in the album. The band approached the making of the record holistically and with serious commitment. They wanted to squeeze out the very best of what they know and what they’re capable of. Still, taking everything together, the punk rock element remains the foundation on which the band’s idiom is built. Even now, in a period when they’ve reached great artistic maturity.
The lyrics are once again vividly soaked in heavy sarcasm. A lucid mockery of fools runs through this record too, and that juiciness of the poetry is the band’s trump card, keeping any potential thinness or cheapness of content from poking through the otherwise trivial music. The team of five musicians once again hangs together on the new album with the fire and passion of a big gang of friends, and the album consequently delivers an exceptionally tight execution of its tracks, all of which have that organic feel, that live-gig vitality and the cohesion of five building blocks that communicate superbly with one another.
The album opens in an angry, furious way, in the spirit of proper »ljuta rokčina«. With the song Žena. It sarcastically exposes a guy stuck in a midlife crisis who knows exactly what the balm for all his wounds is (Žena koja ima muda«). With undiminished intensity the album rolls on into the song Firma, which pulls no punches in laying bare the great swindle that took place in Croatia in 1991. In Slovenia too (I know, that realization doesn’t surprise you anymore)! The tracks that especially make the listener laugh are the »ode to a T-shirt« Mojoj majici (a brilliant development of the story through poetry!), and then the song about Tijan (Tijana, who only ever calls when she’s drunk). Messi, Zombi party and others then pour rock ‘n’ roll oil on the fire…
The album has a satisfying variety. Especially in the calmer tracks, an extraordinary finesse and subtlety comes through, revealing the band’s sophisticated side. With its demonstrated softness and delicacy of performance, it literally knocks you flat (Ljepa riječ, Barba), and the song Stari šajser especially sets the album alight artistically. It’s a track soaked in layered atmosphere, with a delicate modulation in the instrumental middle section that cranks up the drama and is full of great musicality. This melancholy, nostalgic song in particular proves the exceptional compositional power Hladno pivo have developed over the years. Before the album ends, the song Žena gets a reprise in Bivša žena. The music and lyrics are the same, but the song is played completely differently. If the first is a fiery punk hellcat, the second is entirely melancholy and wistful, and the band’s softer side comes to the surface once again.
Let me not drag this review out too long. »Dan zatvorenih vrata« is a record that once again shows the band’s exceptional artistic maturing. And it doesn’t crawl under your skin right away, since the arrangements are so meticulously detailed. It holds on to a remarkable musicality, moments of direct rock punch, and moments of great musical pragmatism, where the band’s softer side takes over. You can’t overlook the outstanding vocal contribution of singer Mile, who, with his chameleon-like range and an unbridled bag of emotion and passion, brings the album’s tracks and their message to life no end. It all rests on a remarkable balance and great pragmatism. That’s why this is an extremely listenable record that, together with the strong message of its poetry, once again puts Hladno pivo in the category of beloved, folk-style rock bands from our southern neighbors, the kind that crowds instantly identify with. Over the years Hladno pivo have become the voice of the people and the little guy. At the same time they keep maturing artistically and adding more and more depth and sensuous compositional and performance craftsmanship to their compositions. So the evolution continues along its natural path, and the four-year interval between new albums clearly suits the band just fine.
Lineup
Milan Kekin – Mile – vocals
Zoran Subašić – Zoki – guitar
Milko Kiš – Deda – keyboards
Krešimir Šokec – Šoki – bass guitar
Mladen Subašić – Suba – drums
Production
Pavle Miholjević & Jurica Ferino
Tracklist
01. Žena
02. Firma
03. Mojoj majici
04. Tijana
05. Dibidus
06. Messi
07. Lijepa riječ
08. Stari Šajser
09. Dan oslobodjenja
10. Barba
11. Zombi Party
12. Udarna vijest
13. Na ovim prostorima
14. Bivša žena
15. Vjeruj u mene
