Author: Urban Bolta
Artist: Zabranjeno pušenje
Label: Hayat production
Release: 2009
Length: 54:42
Rating: 3.5/5
Zabranjeno Pušenje are back! Barely two years have passed since they put out “Hodi da ti čiko nešto da”, and before “Čiko” even had time to go stale, the Zabranjenci were already holed up in Zagreb studios at the end of last year and the start of this one, recording a new album with the telling title Muzej Revolucije. A short gap between two releases is usually more of a young-band thing, since they tend to be more motivated and their ideas practically fight each other over which one gets onto the record. For old cats, which Zabranjeno Pušenje, with a career of more than twenty-five years, definitely are, cranking out albums like on a conveyor belt isn’t exactly typical. Especially considering that the Zabranjeno Pušenje of the new millennium fall into the average-band category, and with their clueless releases this decade they haven’t lived up to the name they built in the eighties. And that’s exactly why Muzej Revolucije is such a big surprise!
The Zabranjeno Pušenje lineup changed a bit while the new album was coming together – Dejan Orešković Klo now takes care of coaxing sounds out of the bass guitar, replacing Predrag Bobić, while the rest of the players are the same as on the previous record. Why do I stress this? The band is famous for frequent changes, and the backbone and first fiddle, a member since day one, remains only Sejo Sexon, the man who, after the war ended, reactivated the band that had been scattered across the whole country and drafted a few new members into it. Sejo handled the songwriting for Muzej revolucije too, getting help, as always, from his right-hand man, guitarist Toni Lović, and from outside collaborators, the writers Tomislav Andrić and Mario Vastić.
Muzej revolucije is a departure from the path they started when they began releasing records again in the second half of the nineties and which peaked with the previous, (in my view) misguided “Hodi da ti čiko nešto da”. This time they’re going back to their roots, to primal rock’n’roll, which they used to play pretty damn well. By going back to their roots I mean the structure of the songs themselves and the emphasis on guitar lines, not a garage sound, which has been replaced by excellent production – they worked with John Davis (Manic Street Preachers, U2, Arctic Monkeys…). Put differently, with every new release in recent years Zabranjeno pušenje drifted a little further from rock’n’roll and started flirting seriously with related genres like ethno, folk and even jazz, while Muzej revolucije brings harder rhythms back into the band’s sound, pushing the organic sounds of the trumpet, violin and other secondary, not-quite-rock instruments onto a side track. The songs are built around guitar motifs, which haven’t been this assertive in Zabranjeno Pušenje’s music for a long time, and in some songs they’re even hard rock. The instruments mentioned above of course still claim their share on the new album, but to a much smaller degree, since the guitar riff mostly sets a powerful tempo from start to finish and the other instruments simply join in. It’s no longer common for, say, the trumpet to dictate and lead the listener through a song. In a few tracks the guitar and violin blend superbly and together create some truly fine moments, something we haven’t heard from the Sarajevo guys in ages! Lyrically, Sejo & Co stay in familiar waters, talking about the problems of today’s people and society in general, all of it, as we’ve come to expect from them, seasoned with humor. The album also touches on the old social system, which they once criticized and now look back on with a touch of nostalgia..
The album opens with the title track, with a very hard riff and a nostalgic memory of the past, followed by the first single, Modni Guru, where they go for a mellower, almost pop-rock note. Kladimo se, with its chorus, takes us back to 1985 and the album Dok čekaš sabah sa šejtanom, when the “Zabranjenci” played feel-good rock’n’roll with a big dose of positive energy that could stretch even the most sour face into a smile. Samir-time is one of the album’s highlights, a mature song with a melodic chorus and a superbly woven-in violin. In Prigodnje riječi we’re surprised by a strong bass line and the constant presence of the trumpet, while Express Folky star is the album’s weakest song and the closest thing to a typical track from Hodi da ti čiko nešto da. The second half of the album is great too, with Tvoja bosa stopala standing out, along with another highlight of the album, U gradu gdje nisam rođen. Kada Sena pleše is an average tune with an above-average chorus, in which the guitar and trumpet work together brilliantly.
With Muzej revolucije, the Sarajevo crew obviously didn’t start a revolution in the music world, but they’ve pleasantly surprised us and steered us back into rockier waters, where they once felt right at home. The album is the best of the new millennium, maybe even the best of the postwar era, where its only competition is Fildžan viška (1997).
Lineup
Sejo Sexon – vocals, guitar, backing vocals
Toni Lović – electric and acoustic guitar, backing vocals
Branko Trajkov Trak – drums, backing vocals
Robert Boldižar – violin, keyboards, backing vocals
Paul Kempf – keyboards
Dejan Orešković Klo – bass guitar
Guest musicians:
Stipe Mađor – trumpet on Prigodne riječi
Ante Prgin Surka – drums and trumpet on Kada Sena pleše and trumpet on Samir time
Nenad Mlinarić Mlinka – drums on Muzej revolucije
Production
Toni Lović & Sejo Sexon
Tracklist
1. Muzej revolucije
2. Modni guru
3. Kladimo se
4. Samir – time
5. Prigodne riječi
6. Express Folky star
7. Kada Sena pleše
8. Ustanova
9. Tvoja bosa stopala
10. U gradu gdje nisam rođen
11. Tijesno
12. Nije to (Čuva Bog Želju svog) (bonus track)
