| DOP magazine: (chosen for the album of the month in November 2003!) 'Children, if you like cabaret, if you like the whole world, if you like to read from the palm and wear flippers in the heat of Zagreb asphalt, if you like LouieLouie Reed and Captain Beefheart, it you like the cartoon 'Zajc, nu pagadji (which isn't called so, but you're cheering for the wolf pack), if you like Eugene Ionesco and his obligatory reading compadre Kafka, if you like free jazz without having a clue what's jazz and how much freedom there is in it, and how much improvisation, if you like to march outside the machine and deliberately spoil the march and the gait, if you remember Schmrtz Teatar and the bombarding of Franjo Tu�man with justified pleasant unpleasantry, if you like charleston and rock'n'roll schemes, as well as covers of neo-psychodely when its historical reach and metamorphoses didn't even appear in outlines, if you like teatrology as passionately as it jumps out of theatrical currents, if you like Nova grupa, if you like nipples and you don't suffer from sloppy dancing and lack of striking triceps, if you like the soundrtack of a movie that hasn't yet be filmed on 35mm, but you have seen it a thousand times, if you like conceptual art and you've always been attracted to deliberate marginals, if you like to write to write lyrics that Alka Vuica and Severina Rije�ka never would, if you like to be a student for a looong period in your life, if you like to dig, investigate, curiously prick, find holes in the system, walk through Pe��enopolis and admire the characters from Nightmare Stage, interweave the regular course of things from other perspectives and in inumerable ways, all this listed in the form of one likable pop rock weird dance group of chestnut sellers and dancers in the rain who respond on the echo of 'Zvonko i Gradski ured za kulturu... then it's about time you yield to the magic of the sound and start a wicked one-hour non-stop dance. Together with us.' That's what the invented introduction of Mario Kova� would sound like in one of the many performances of the named group who released a very nice and positive first album 'Rapa a sastama' on account of 32 thousand kunas from his Tarik vs M.K. episode. It's your turn. Don't forget them.' TERAPIJA webzine: I didn't understand the first fraction of Kova�'s musical expression (SCHMRTZ TEATAR) at all. I blame it on my years (young and inexperienced.)This new one (ZVONKO I GRADSKI URED ZA KULTURU) suits me much better. Again, I blame it on the years (older and more experienced.) Comparing their concert events with the music on the CD, I must admit there are almost no similarities. While in concerts they try to be as confusing, psychodelic and obscure as possible, the studio versions of the same songs are admissible (almost for anybody) and poppish, so it's not excluded that some of the songs could become even more global hits than 'Gledam televiziju'. Attractive cover, quality paper, REAL Cd surely isn't something we would expect from Zvonko and its City bureau of culture. But they (or someone else) made sure that not everything is in its place, so they mixed up the order of the songs, which is not the same on the CD and on the cover. It's up to you to find the mistake! 'Rapa A Sastama' is one of this year's best albums (which unfortunately isn't that hard in Croatia), and I suppose that I will understand the last fraction (here Mario can put the name he wants) the best, and that the years will play the key role again (old and experienced). www.backpackrock.com: I believe that more or less everyone knows about this fun-punk attraction from Zagreb, with Mario Kova�, legendary theatre director, as frontman, and which functions as an 'extension' of the Schmrtz Teatar. Although this album was released in early summer, it's still more than interesting, and the band got a chance to promote it in concerts over Europe and Canada. I must admit that I didn't have any great expectations before putting the CD in the player. Not because I thought that Zvonko i gradski ured za kulturu was a bad band, but because I simply didn't know what to expect from the CD. I also have to admit that after the apstract introductory 'Nagasaki' I was pleasantly suprised, and a smile appeared on my face after just a couple of beats of 'Dekonstrukcija pop-pjesme'. Positive energy with which all of the songs abound is absolutely undisputable, and I was also suprised by the playing and very interesting composing skills of these guys and a girl, who were helped by other guys and girls in recording this album. In addition to the standard rock line-up (guitar-bass-drums), together with keyboards, all sorts of percussions, rattles and other effects/instruments appear. The songs vary from some evergreen-sounding songs, which could only be successful on Neurovision to other funny Zvonko works, who all bear awareness and attitudes against some stereotypes in the society (which can only be overcome if we decide to change ourselves and no longer participate in them). That's the case with 'Gledam TV' as well, a song which stressed the power of the media, which feeds on our media consumption and eventually leads to alienation. Or, for example, 'Gubi� svo to vrijeme', which talks about indecisiveness of the young about the issue whether to stay in Croatia or emigrate (great punk chorus at the end of the song). 'Barbara', which is actually a legendary poem ('Rapelle toi, Barbara�') set to music is particularly interesting, and in this case it indicates the problem of the 20-something years old people, who still live with their parents (of course, in a specific Zvonko way). I'd like to single out 'Zvonko u epizodi', love song 'Let's go away for a while', as well as 'My Old Lady' and 'Sister Ray'. They all show how to become and remain interesting and different in an unpretentious way. The press material I received with this CD says that the Zvonko inspiration might be Chumbawamba. Couldn't agree more! VIPnet: On the anarchic principles of the self-dissolved Schmrtz Teatar, responsible for the antological album 'Dr Franjo Tu�man', up came somewhat more self-controlled, but none the less charming pop project of the theatre director Mario Kova�, namely Zvonko i GUZK. And as much as Kova� and the jolly company fuck around with forms, messages and iconography of the band, none of that belittles the fact that on 'Rapa A Sastama' (variation on 'Rupa u sistemu') they have recorded � by coincidence or not � a couple of great pop songs whose reach shouldn't be restricted only to the tribe of the alternatives close to the 'Mo�vara' sound. 'Gledam TV' is an old hit, here joined by 'Dekonstrukcija pop-pjesme' and 'Gubi� svo to vrijeme'. 'Barbara' and 'Zvonko u epizodi' fill up the vaudeville section very well, accompanied by free-form jams 'Nagasaki' and 'Sister Ray' (cover of the Velvet Underground classic.) Try out Zvonko. It is much more fun than the real City Bureau of Culture. |
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| zVonKo i gRadSki uReD zA kuLtuRu: rApA A sAstAmA (album reviews) |