Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Neon
Label: Self-released
Released: 2014
Runtime: 24:33
Rating: 3/5
Neon are an up-and-coming alternative rock band based in the heart of the Goriška Brda region, more precisely a crew from the town of Kanal and its surroundings. The band, active since 2010, gave birth to its first studio document this October: an EP titled »Prognoza«.
The quintet serves up a recognizable musical blend, a typical take on the melodic sensibility that marks music-making on the sunny side of the Alps. The lead melodies are the main engine of theatrical drama in building the atmosphere, which, in the musicality it shows as the songs unfold, is bombastically charged while also carrying that unmistakable Slovenian melancholy and a dark mood. So it’s an alternative rock record crossed with a noticeable pop sentiment, hunting for a potential breakthrough among those Slovenian bands that define the middle wave, or the »mainstream«. The opening section is led by pompous keyboards imitating the synth sounds of the eighties, and that motif suddenly spills over into a noisy shove of guitar phrasing that, combined with the thick layering of synthesizers, builds a wonderfully massive wall of sound! Into this drama theater steps the male vocal, aimed at crafting mid-range melodies, let’s call them the kind that bring more manliness into the delivery, following the example of many alternative rock bands that want to please radio frequencies with a pop premise, with Siddharta first among them. Even the sounds of the Nord keyboards that Neon use in their arrangements point toward Siddharta again and again throughout the EP, especially from the era of the album »Saga«, but the basic element that gives the band its dominant alternative stance is definitely Deni’s vocal.
In the arrangements, Neon approached the work with real commitment. They took care to dress up the lead vocal in a pleasing and effective way with added vocal harmonies, and the last track on the EP, the mini symphonic EP-within-an-EP Echo, stands out most for it, owing the biggest debt of inspiration to Siddharta’s work of all the tracks. Though Pertinač explodes on the guitar phrases a few times in a way that echoes his past work in his home band Motorfire, these escalations (especially in the track Echo) are kept in balance, mainly thanks to the style of the vocal delivery and the contrast with the keyboard arrangements.
With this EP, Neon prove they’re a band with the talent to craft credibly formatted compositions. The details of these are tastefully chosen, also thanks to the sonic picture of the production, which sounds warm, full and dynamic despite the EP’s cold, obscure and also solemnly pompous mood. The EP draws its inspiration from renowned Slovenian alternative rock and pop acts, which isn’t exactly the best move for establishing an artistic identity of their own material, but on the other hand the »Prognoza« EP is a credible proof of a bold and confident musical start from a dedicated band. As for whether there’s still a free seat left on the train to a commercial breakthrough on the Slovenian »mainstream«, only time will tell!
Lineup
Deni Kuk – vocals, guitar
Boštjan Pertinač – guitar
Jani Klančič – keyboards, backing vocals
Peter Srebrnič – bass guitar, backing vocals
Martin Gerbec – drums
Production
Matej “Audioholik” Srebrnič
Tracklist
1. Intro
2. Viva
3. Ripper
4. Magnis Nominis Umbra
5. Echo
