Author: Sandi Sadar Šoba
Artist: Leaf Fat
Label: 57 Records
Released: 2007
Just a few years ago they were considered a very promising Slovenian band, and today they’ve become darlings of young people both in Slovenia and abroad who are hungry for good, noisy music. The story of the Ljubljana hard-hitters who go by the name LEAF-FAT began in the hot summer of 2001. Back then they were still a punk-rock outfit, but they soon said goodbye to three-chord thrashing and moved into heavier waters, which they’re still swimming in today. At the start of 2002 the band had its first gig, which also brought the first and only lineup changes, and as mentioned, the group has played with an unchanged lineup ever since. The guys never really got any media attention, and they only earned their bigger break with their first video (which in Slovenia is a necessary evil if you want to get noticed as a band at all) for the song WINTER SONG. We waited quite a while for the debut, and until it came out, their music could only be found online. UNDERWORLD KINGDOM is the band’s first record, released in 2005, and with it they finally won the media’s interest and, most importantly, a mountain of fans! Another video soon followed, this time for the song INDIVIDUAL HAPPINESS, with the director’s chair going to Perica, (these days) a director and the singer of D-Fact. Like any young band, Leaf-Fat collected all sorts of praise and festival wins. They were picked among 100 young hopefuls from Europe and took 2nd place at Newcomer in Graz, they opened for Soulfly, Mad Caddies and a few other well-known acts, got a great review of the album on a well-known American website, and were rewarded with 2nd place for best record of the year by Radio Študent, which paid them plenty of attention. Then came the Fatball Tour together with Multiball from Celje, playing in Germany, Austria and Slovenia, and they made yet another video, for the song U. K., which in its live version is….. We could list the band’s successes endlessly, but right now only one thing matters: the new record, released recently.
RockPaperScissors is their latest creation, featuring 11 tracks that sound quite different from what we got used to on the first album. This time keyboards are front and center, there’s a lot more screaming, and some songs even have a touch of Spanish flavor… The band decided to move away from emo core (in my opinion there was plenty of it on the first record), and this time they sound like Deftones and Faith No More, so a lot punchier and noisier, but still easy to listen to. You could catch the new record’s launch party on Friday, December 14, at Tabor Hall.
The RockPaperScissors record kicks off with a punchy, self-titled track that apparently already has a video ready. Here you can already hear the “new” Leaf-Fat style of playing, since the riffs are heavier and therefore hit harder! A good start leads us on to the next song, UNFORTUNATE EVENT ON ITS WAY TO NOTHING (INFINITY). A bass intro together with fierce “roaring” and great melodies, with a pinch of emo core mixed in. Totally awesome!!!CHOOSE YOUR REALITY opens in the style of This Piece by The Hurt Process. An intro that I think is excellent was supposed to herald a good song, but the whole thing turns out to be a letdown. The lyrics are in Spanish/English, and the song is (at least for me) hard to listen to! The fourth track, X-P, is a completely different story. A crazy good intro that gives off a bouncy vibe soon turns into slightly melancholic melodies, and the lyrics aren’t much different. One of my favorite songs on the record is definitely CELEBRATE A BRAND NEW WAVE. Another punchy start, with electronics, deep vocals and more emo music mixed in, which they obviously couldn’t quite say goodbye to. Once again: INSANE!!!! IL MALOCCHIO is another killer track on this album that slightly reminds me of Deftones. Next comes a cover of the song MALA NIMFOMANKA, made for Big Foot Mama’s 15th anniversary. I can’t say the song itself is among the top tracks on this record, but I can say I like the cover and it’s pure Leaf-Fat style! IDOLS LIKE ICARUS is a bouncy track whose melody sounds incredibly familiar to me, but I can hardly say it’s a copy of some other song, since I’m convinced the Ljubljana screamers know how to write their own songs and not knockoffs. The biggest flop of all the songs is definitely BETTER STILL!!!! A slow melody, and the whole thing sounds like some Gala & Galeristov track. I could also compare it to T. W. T. from the previous record, except this one is far more boring. The complete opposite shows up with MCFTD. Another insanely good track, with thrashing and screaming… no point wasting words, all I can say is: AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! Yep, the guys really know their stuff, but check the truth of my words for yourselves! To my great sorrow there are only 11 tracks, and the last one is BurnBitchBurn. Behind that slightly odd title hides, what else, another heavy song packed with buzzing guitars and wild vocals!
And so the album ends, this time without any hidden track, and all I can say is that I can hardly wait for new material for the next record, which I believe will be even better, since with this release the band has changed a lot and matured into a more solid, distinctive act. Leaf –Fat have clearly grown up, and we can only wave goodbye to the old emo core and punk, because they’ve undoubtedly become much heavier and punchier. Either way, we wish the band lots more great records and wild gigs!
Line-up
Robert Šercer – vocals
Miha Kraševec – guitar
Matej Avsenak-Ogorevc – guitar
Miha Medved – bass
Jaka Skočir – drums
Production
Matej Gobec
Tracklist
1. RockPaperScissors
2. Unfortunate Event On Its Way To Nothing (Infinity)
3. Choose Your Reality
4. X-P
5. Celebrate A Brand New Wave
6. Il Malocchio
7. Mala Nimfomanka
8. Idols Like Icarus
9. Better Still
10. MCFTD
11. Burnbitchburn
Album length: 42.53
