Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Elabanda
Label: Celinka
Released: 2015
Rating: 4/5
Elabanda are a seasoned five-piece from Ajdovščina who craft a homegrown tangle of rock’n’roll and musical playfulness, drawing inspiration from the musical and geographical roots the band belongs to. The Slovenian scene is packed with bands of this kind, but there are real differences between them, especially in whether they manage to fuse the authentic spirit of the folk heritage of the place they come from with rock’n’roll.
From Orlek to Brencl Bande and everything in between. The differences lie in how far a band experiments and in which side it leans on harder: weaving in folk elements or going for raw rock energy. The Ajdovščina lads of Elabanda somehow skillfully ride the thin dividing line down the middle between the two approaches, and they build a musically wonderfully catchy macramé of ten colorful songs with a recognizable, well-defined identity of their own.
To stress where they come from, the band also throws in verses sung in the Ajdovščina dialect. They deliberately don’t overdo it, though in this case a bit of »overdoing it« wouldn’t have hurt at all. The typical choral-harmonized melodies also hint that the warm breezes of the Primorska coast aren’t far from the Ajdovščina valley. On one hand they blend that likable, forever good-natured, dreamy Primorska sentiment, and on the other they deftly brush against a deeper, even mystical melancholy, which Slovenian pathos is by nature full of.
Together they serve up on the album »Facka« (judging by the cover, you could affectionately call it “a slap, Ajdovščina-style”) a bundle of cleverly squeezed lyrics full of typically black humor and sarcasm, reflecting through them the glitz and misery of Slovenianhood in modern times. You could say it’s the bitter realization of Slovenianhood being sold off.
The ten songs boast a compact package of skillful arranging, where a band of experienced musical talents deftly combines a wonderfully witty and sparkling play of catchy musical interweaving, with naturally colored sounds of guitar, accordion, the warm sensuality of Hammond organ and mandolin, with high musical accessibility and receptiveness. For untrained ears. Which is what matters.
»Facka« is a lovely original album of heartfelt, content-rich expression, and the fruit of a seasoned band that, with this new studio document, keeps effectively and convincingly deepening, upgrading and nurturing its own recognizable musical dossier. The production has a catchy organic touch of liveliness, which gives the document’s authenticity the perfect finishing touch.
Lineup
Aljoša Košuta – bass guitar
Jure Ferjančič – vocals, acoustic guitar
Matija Ceket – electric guitar
Mitja Škrlj – accordion, Hammond
Peter Mozetič – drums
Urban Logar – mandolin
Production
Borut Čelik
Track list
1. Dej mi facko
2. Špilej Ela
3. WWW ob Wasmih je Wblačnu nad Wajdušno
4. Kam greš
5. Tomo Škwuorc
6. Lublana
7. Meni nejki smrdi
8. Luč gori
9. Waltze
