Author: Sandi Sadar Šoba
Artist: EWOK
Label: Kapa Records
Release: 2013
Length: 45:04
Rating: 4.1/5
The pull of mixing digital and analog has obviously only gotten stronger. Slovenia feels it too. Old and new, the last century and the new millennium, synths and good old drums (and no samples)… EWOK have caught the bug for this intriguing new fusion of electronics and rock, which Radiohead perhaps perfected with Kid A. I’m not saying the end results of these two bands sound anything alike, but the kindred approach is there. Another recent trend on the Slovenian scene is the growing number of superbands popping up – this year, for example, we got the debut from the supergroup Werefox, formed from members of Psycho-Path, Lollobrigida, Sphericube, Bekko and Manul. EWOK are definitely a one-of-a-kind supergroup too. They’re made up of thoroughly familiar names from the Slovenian alternative scene – singer Milan Jerkič (ex Intimn Frizurn), keyboardist (and DJ) Miha Šajina (Moveknowledgement) and drummer Luka Kuhar (Na lepem prijazni). Out of these musicians (with that stylistic vision) EWOK was born, then the singles »Mr. Pacman« and »Street Lights«, and finally the debut No Time.
Don’t get me wrong – a fusion of electronic music and rock is a pretty loose label to begin with. Put it in the context of No Time and it comes out way too broad. Sure, I can say the whole record is soaked in fast techno rhythms, synth sounds that could pass for that electronic genre, insanely catchy vocal harmonies, almost experimental 8-bit patterns… But I’m being too loose again, even though all of that is true. What EWOK do is take all these familiar ingredients (with a pinch of hip-hop and a rock or even punk approach) and wrap them up in one wild package where rock aesthetics meet the modern electro scene.
Still, it has to be said that No Time is first and foremost a dance record. It’s hard not to give yourself over to the music on it, and hard to approach it with rational, deep-dive listening. Maybe that’s exactly why it’s tough to talk about some heavy band philosophy. The tracks can easily serve as smooth »background« music, which is sometimes a knock, but not in this case at all – EWOK’s music is still so intelligent, so carefully studied and thought through, that you can tell everything is in its place for a very deliberate reason. You can really hear it in the build-ups, which aren’t the kind you hear in clubs but the real (post-/alt/whatever) rock kind – like in the track »Are You Ready«. Maybe the most interesting thing is that some parts even remind me of prog rock or jazz fusion, especially the keyboard section in the middle of »Crunch«. Maybe the influence of Na lepem prijazni and the golden prog rock / jazz-rock era of the 1970s?
The lyrics themselves are pretty much »party animal« stuff, but with a ton of urban flavor, which lets the target audience, our generation, identify with them and with the band. This is still music of movement, music of energy (and there’s enough energy on No Time to power a few nuclear plants), music of primal emotion. It doesn’t try to be smart where being smart doesn’t belong. »Less is more« works here too, especially when it comes to instinct, impulse and rawness.
EWOK are therefore a band you shouldn’t miss live. If the energy is already radiating off the album, there’s no doubt that musicians this experienced will carry it over to the stage and the dance floor in front of them. Because thanks to the record’s incredible danceability and catchiness, the space in front of the stage is going to become exactly that. No Time will be listened to everywhere. And that “everywhere” covers both space and time – you’ll definitely make the time for No Time.
Lineup
Milan Jerkič – vocals
Miha Šajina – keyboards, sound manipulation
Luka Kuhar- drums
Tracklist
1. Street Lights
2. No Kick Party
3. Are You Ready
4. Booty
5. Don’t Stop
6. Beatapril
7. Crunch
8. Finacolada
9. Mr. Pacman
10. Religion Didn’t Do a Thing
