Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Real Life Version
Label: Giljotina Records
Released: 2018
Duration: 20:32
Rating: 4.5/5
For thirteen years now, Real Life Version have been fighting it out on the wide fields of the Ajdovščina valley’s underground. Defying, biting. They keep the uncompromising edge, keep the fire and the heart. With their years of activity, the band stands as the rocky massif of the new alternative rock movement in the Ajdovščina area. The members are tightly connected to the other local bands, who barely even notice genre dividing lines, let alone acknowledge them. So in that corner of Slovenia, (surprisingly) harmony reigns.
Sure, you could say Real Life Version are a very fashionably complete musical tale of punk rock with mild touches of HC, but the second thought that comes to mind is that the world is crawling with bands like that. Still, Real Life Version manage to be a little bit their own. Ajdovščina-style their own, get it? They’ve got their own musical dossier, which they’re now only deepening and nurturing with the new album »Furious Winds And Ice Cold Showers«. This isn’t just an extremely fast onslaught built on three- or four-chord combos and punchy, simple riffs. The band dares to step past those thresholds, stuffing in a nice bundle of complex transitions and passages, and the album’s title track delivers a special surprise that’s totally atypical for the genre. In the period before the music for this album was written, the band had to go through a turbulent stretch, hence the chosen album title, and the title track can more or less be taken as the core of the band’s statement about that turbulent time. Folks from Ajdovščina are used to the bora wind, after all.
The band handles production themselves, and it’s exceptionally good. Warm, organic, alive and dynamic, with a sonic landscape filled out with real skill. The low end provides a proper spring mattress for the bold riffs and the rhythmic texture. Melodies are plentiful, and the vocals are mostly »clean« too, meaning melodic. The band deftly fills the space between the vocal lines with extra vocals or »shouts«; the lead vocal is often surrounded by additional vocal harmonies and often cleverly masked with extra effects, which adds further articulation to the songs and stirs up the moods. That brings waves of mood and atmosphere.
The other thing that makes the Real Life Version story so assured is their technical polish. Everything they do is exceptionally refined and well thought out. Even though it all sounds trivial and simple to the ear, the guys spent a lot of time honing the tracks into their final versions. The transitional parts, the decorative touches of guitar harmonies (including a »Maiden« harmony in Rise And Shine). The band cares about expressive aesthetics, especially when it comes to rhythmic kinetics. Rhythmically, Real Life Version are particularly strong. You can feel it in the contribution of the extremely lively bass lines, which communicate clearly and as equals with the other instruments in the production. Real Life Version would rather slip in some »fucked-up« rhythmic transition or a transitional »break« than get tangled up in complex »torturing« of their instruments. There’s no room for overcomplicating things; the band gets to the point right away and disarms fans of this kind of music with the incredible energy they radiate in their playing and commitment. Real Life Version carry an utterly convincing punch and expressive vehemence. They’re certainly not short on authenticity.
As far as instant catchiness goes, they absolutely nailed Rise And Shine. The best they’ve pulled off in that department, really. A track made for a commercial spot! It’s the ideal track to open a gig or an album, and yet Real Life Version chose to open with Tea Party Revolution, a rhythmically more complex number, which signals right from the start that this isn’t just another stereotypical new-generation punk rock band. Another extremely likeable rush is the closing Chainbreaker, where a harmonized vocal line grabs your attention, and the ending delivers one more punk rock detonation in which the mostly »cheerful« Real Life Version shake out a good helping of sharpness, anger and jaggedness.
Real Life Version are a band that absolutely has to make a mark abroad. Absolutely. The new album underlines that once again. If some Offspring ever show up here, we know who the opening act will be. You’d really want to see them live. Real Life Version, that is. Maybe they’re even playing before NOFX on 21.06.2018 in Ljubljana? Who knows.
Lineup
Jani Jež – guitar, vocals
Aljoša Todorovič – guitar
Jani Peljhan – bass guitar, vocals
Nejc Franca – drums, vocals
Production
Real Life Version
Tracklist
1. Tea Party Revolution (02:40)
2. Rise and Shine (02:30)
3. Challenging Ghost (03:32)
4. Furious Winds and Ice Cold Showers (05:12)
5. Wall of Fame 6 o’clock (03:38)
6. Chainbreaker (02:30)
