Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Pankeroschi
Label: Društvo kočevskih glasbenikov
Release: 2013
Duration: 43:35
Rating: 4/5
Some things land on the »zgoščefon« (read: the new Slovenian term for a CD player) later than you’d hope or expect. Luckily, rust doesn’t easily cling to art (and music along with it) if it’s made with heart and honesty. The price for that is its timelessness, which knows no limits of time or space and permanently keeps the message of its own voice relevant.
We Slovenians have always been serious punks! Maybe slightly worse rebels, but when it comes to punk, hardly anyone in the European region we geographically occupy comes close. We often don’t realize that enough.. Pankeroschi are a band from Kočevje that has been biting mercilessly for sixteen years. Only last year did their first studio album »Lepi novi svet« finally crawl into the world. Sworn to the bitterness of old-school hardcore punk aesthetics, the band serves up as many as 15 tracks of sharpness on this studio debut. Even after all these years, the teeth are still unchipped, and the album hands you a juicy fistful of dynamite with a fine songwriting touch that instantly dispels any delusion about a band thinking in the glow of conformism. Pankeroschi are a genuine revolt against a state of affairs unworthy of the dignity of the little guy. This is the »beautiful (fake) new world« that soulless pastors have been thick-skinnedly peddling to us on the cheap for 2,000 years now, and we, hoping it’ll get better, keep falling for it. Lyrically, Pankeroschi are uncompromising. They hit on the first swing and leave no room for beautifiers. The quartet uses the direct language of holy truthfulness, which shakes you like an atomic bomb. The album is a genuine school lesson in what an album of rebellious rhetoric and rock ‘n’ roll revolt should look like! The release of the album was quietly heralded by the compilation »Kočevje špila – Grupn«i (2012) – RockLine review HERE, to which Pankeroschi contributed the song Lepi novi svet.
The debut reflects the energetic vibe of today’s Pankeroschi. They recorded the material in one go in a studio, played through and co-created by the crew of the current lineup over the last few years. The guys and the gal have more material, but they decided not to put every song on the debut. The sound the band developed in the studio is raw and sprawling, yet tightly placed and compact! Instantly convincing in its authenticity. Played at a high level. Heartfelt and furious. Built like a live show. The distorted, crunchy sound keeps the shine of the unpolished, and in its occasional massiveness can easily develop a kind of destructiveness that will appeal to fans of heavier, which is to say metal, sounds too.
Pankeroschi are a band that doesn’t know how to overcomplicate things. Guitarist Pero brings a venomously biting riff to every song, with no serious difficulty levels for the average listener’s gray matter. With the sharpness of red-hot galloping from ruffled guitar riffs, shod with the clattering tornado of the snare and the jerky rattle of the bass, it’s a guarantee of your »lobotomy«, which mirrors the fact that there’s no joking around with the hardcore punk culture Pankeroschi approach and develop. The vocal isn’t screamy, but it’s thunderous, defiantly dog-like in its bite, penetrating, and a true reflection of the misery and glitz of the beautiful new world and the anger of the street. Beneath every slogan lies the chaff of deception. And that’s exactly what Pankeroschi lay bare, no holds barred, in their lyrics. This is an old-school band that has no use for »perfume« and the cosmetic makeup of studio »prosthetics«, with caustic content that will thoroughly clear out your auditory canals and pour you a glass of pure truth about everything a true punk soul has to contain!
But the 15 tracks, in all their aggression, don’t bring just an uncompromising »blitzkrieg« on the first swing; they also reveal the band’s feeling for musicality, which the song Kamn okol vratu soon points out, while right after it NSPSS shows that Pero’s guitar phrasing has noticeably more imagination than just a »predictable stroll around the little square« of four chords.
Pankeroschi are a band of special musical essence, with a special vibration to their HC punk approach. They confirm that the Kočevje region is one of the most attractive underground rock destinations on the Slovenian music scene! The album »Lepi novi svet« radiates the uniqueness of the musical pose the band strikes. With its »holy simplicity« and truthfulness, and a fully developed voltage of destructive anger, approached all the way through with great passion and hard-working commitment, it convinces completely. The sympathies of true hardcore punk zealots can’t and mustn’t be missing! If they dare to look the truth in the eye, they certainly won’t!
Lineup
Dare – vocals
Pero – guitar
Ive – bass, backing vocals
Petra – drums
Production
Primož Velikonja
Tracklist
1. Vladar
2. Kamn okol vratu
3. NSPSS
4. Lepi novi svet
5. Pot do svobode
6. Nikoli
7. Noč
8. Delat
9. Safr
10. Pa sej bolje bo
11. Demokracija
12. Sam proti sebi
13. Ni pravice
14. Nni pravice
15. Adijo politika
