Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Stara šula
Label: Self-released
Release: 2015
Rating: 3.5/5
Stara šula are back with a second album after their 2012 studio debut. Once again they stick to the tried-and-true formula of garage-stripped rock’n’roll, stuffed with the holy rage of punk bite. It’s hell being born in Yugoslavia. First they con you into believing that the values of brotherhood and unity are sacred. You believe them and follow. Then they con you into believing that the market economy and private property beat social ownership and self-management, and you believe them even harder, because they convince you that you’ll surely live better. Well, the facts are completely different. After 24 years of »independent statehood«, the people are barefoot, naked and impoverished, slaving away for foreign capital and a handful of fat cats whose common sense is rotting from an overdose of all those material »goods«. Goodbye, future. This is, believe it or not, simply the reality of our wonderful new world, which we serve in sadomasochistic servitude.
Stara šula don’t pick pretty words. The lyrics seethe with rage and rebel energy. They’re worth reliving, especially wrapped in the uncompromising blanket of wild rock’n’roll debauchery that this authentically played album embodies. The cry of the little guy, a peek into everyday intrigues. And of course, once again there are women and booze. Classic rock’n’roll poetry, in other words. On vocals, the piercingly gruff Krt sticks around, who is also the guitarist of El Kachon. If his singing doesn’t scour out your ear canals and sperm ducts and set your biological clock racing at the same time, you must be made of stone.
Like I said. The band delivers a superior dose of ass-kicking rock’n’roll, cranked to high and highest revs and dosed with a bigger or smaller helping of punk »filth« (depending on the track). Comparisons to Motörhead are possible, some transitions between verses and choruses can even bring Thin Lizzy to mind, or the early elements of the NWOBHM movement, led by the earliest incarnation of Iron Maiden. The band can also sail off toward a lazy lurch, as in the partly ska-packaged To ni mesto (verse) or later in Osvobodi me. Speaking of »punk energy«, you can draw parallels with the once-fraternal bands of the late Yugoslavia, led by Partibrejkers. The track Spet si prava cozies up to AC/DC, and the opening riff can even channel the »sacred, idolized sloppiness« of the great The Rolling Stones. The track Zdaj je čas evokes similar feelings.
Stara šula remain their own story. They go about it in a thoroughly authentic, garage-raw, live way. Sensual, passionate and as heartfelt as it gets. The album has a stripped-bare live production, and the rock-ruffled energy of the junk caught on tape is the imprint of a studio approach built on the »all for one, one for all« principle. In other words, the band played this album as a team. Like a gig, but in the studio. Boldly and uncompromisingly. That’s how you serve it when you’re handling the magic of rock’n’roll. Now march onto those stages with the new album, boys!
Line-up
Andrej Barbarič “Krt” – vocals, guitar
Tomaž Zupančič “Tomi” – guitar
Gregor Fabijan “Febo” – bass
Rok Primec “Roki” – drums
Production
Stara šula
Track list
1. Rojeni v Jugoslaviji
2. Zdaj je čas
3. Free Your Mind
4. To ni mesto
5. Dance
6. Človek
7. Nova vera
8. Osvobodi me
9. Spet si prava
10. Zvečer
