Artist: Users, The
Label: Self-released
Release: 2013
Rating: 3/5
The upbeat debut “I want you to vibe” by The Users is the Slovenian Littoral’s bilingual answer to all of life’s soul-crushing troubles. The message of this eleven-song collection is carefree Littoral through and through, spiced up with a blend of keyboard-backed catchy melodies in quasi-dialect Slovenian lyrics and a steady rhythmic foundation. That foundation deserves a special mention, because the album holds together tightly thanks to the hard work of the bass guitar and drums/percussion. Two prime examples are the teenage-lovesick I want u to know and its contrasting twin Ljubezen je, ljubezni ni.
Unfortunately, the horn section undermines that tightness, sounding indecisive, powerless, almost hesitant. Another irritant of the self-proclaimed Users is the use of English. The Slovenian-tinged diction of the English lyrics, like on the opener Marimbambimbamboom, leaves a bitter aftertaste throughout the song and the album.
The Slovenian lyrics, on the other hand, are the complete opposite. The mischievously dialect-flavored undercurrent of Prelepo je življenje carries a distinctive, spirited charge, topped off with a catchy melody that just won’t get out of your head. The Users’ message gets across to the listener better in Slovenian than in the English attempts. Given all that, the western-flavored Blood on my floor would play out like a black-and-white horse stampede, full of action scenes and clouds of gunpowder. Blood on the floor also boasts a polished arrangement, whose crown jewel remains the scorching, dreamy lead guitar break after the first chorus.
Similarly polished arrangement structures run throughout the album. Russian roulette, a mix of firewater and ska rhythms, teases the listener nicely in the song’s first verse. The farewell closer Dublove (with Nekromant), a solid blend of slow, plodding rhythms, filed-down trembling keyboard sound and combative lyrics, is followed after a few minutes of silence by a reworked version of Obladi Oblada by British legends The Beatles. The Users also show off their arranging chops with the gentle, confessional Ni problem, whose atmosphere softly rocks the listener into their own coastal lagoon, bathed in ivory light.
Svet se vrti, meanwhile, stays comically generic within the tracklist. The philosophy of powerlessness is a thoroughly worn-out theme that most songwriters touch on (with painfully dull results). The mundanity of the lyrics is matched by the music, where the already indecisive horn section drains away the sense of grandeur that the awkwardly sensual piano and lead guitar are striving for.
This Littoral crew of musically seasoned Users is definitely on the right track toward their winning formula: a solid rhythmic foundation, catchy melodies, dialect relevance in the Slovenian songwriting, and creative development in the arrangements. I’d just suggest the band steer clear of English for the sake of better-sounding lyrics.
Lineup
Furlan Rene – drums
Duronjič Danijel – bass
Hirsch Luka – vocals, guitar
Zimic Robert – guitar
Manojlovič Luka – keyboards
Kravos Kristjan – saxophone
Fornazarič Jure – trumpet
Production
The Users
Tracklist
1. Marimbambimbamboom
2. Feel the place
3. Svet se vrti
4. Prelepo je življenje
5. I want u to know
6. Ljubezen je, ljubezni ni
7. Nothing gold can stay
8. Blood on my floor
9. Ni problem
10. Russian roulette
11. Dublove
