Label: Self-released
Production: Stara šula
Release year: 2015
Stara šula are back with a second album, following their studio debut from 2012. Once again they stick to their tried-and-true formula of garage-stripped rock’n’roll, stuffed with the holy rage of punk sarcasm. It’s a hell of a thing to be born in Yugoslavia. First they sell you the line that the values of brotherhood and unity are sacred. You believe them and follow along. Then they sell you the line 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 definitely live better. Well, the facts turn out to be something else entirely. After 24 years of “independent statehood,” the people are barefoot, stripped bare and impoverished, slaving away for foreign capital and a handful of fat cats whose common sense is rotting from an overdose of material “goods.” Farewell, future. Believe it or not, these are simply the facts of reality in our wonderful new world, which we sadomasochistically slave for.
Stara šula don’t pick pretty words. The lyrics boil over with fury and rebellious energy. They’re worth reliving, especially under 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 the women and the booze are back too. Classic rock’n’roll poetry confessions, in other words. On vocals, still going strong with that piercingly guttural voice, is Krt, who is also the guitarist in El Kachon. If his singing doesn’t clean out your ear canals and your seminal ducts and “wind up” your biological clock, then you must be made of stone.
Like I said. The band delivers a superior dose of balls-out rock’n’roll, cranked to high and highest revs and dosed with a greater or lesser measure of punk “dirt” (depending on the type of song). Parallels with Motörhead are possible, some transitions between verses and choruses can even call to mind Thin Lizzy, or the early elements of the NWOBHM movement, led by the earliest version of Iron Maiden. The band can also sail off toward a lazy lurch, as in the partly SKA-wrapped To ni mesto (the verse) or later in Osvobodi me. Speaking of “punk energy,” you can draw parallels with the once-brotherly bands of late Yugoslavia, led by Partibrejkers. The song Spet si prava also flirts with the AC/DC crowd, and the opening riff can even evoke the “holy, idolized out-of-tuneness” of the great The Rolling Stones. The song Zdaj je čas evokes similar feelings.
Stara šula remain their own story. They go at it with serious authenticity, garage-raw and live. Feelingful, passionate and as heartfelt as it gets. The album has a stripped-down, live production, and the rock-honed energy of such a served-up racket is the imprint of a studio approach built on “all for one, one for all.” In other words, the band played this album as a team. Just like a live show, but in the studio. Bold and uncompromising. That’s how you serve it when you’re handling the magic of rock’n’roll. Now get up on those stages with the new album, boys!
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
rating: 8.0 / 10
Tracklist
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
Lineup:
Andrej Barbarič “Krt” – vocals, guitar
Tomaž Zupančič “Tomi” – guitar
Gregor Fabijan “Febo” – bass guitar
Rok Primec “Roki” – drums
