Record of the Week: VLASTA POPIĆ Kvadrat CD
Bass-heavy noise/proper indie rock and punk from Croatia. There’s lots of disjointed guitars vocals in Croatian which, like other Slavic languages, is a really great language for music. Loads of push-pull tempos, sharp guitar tones, and big strums the way it outta be — no snoozy Pitchfork-approved/trendy fest moves here — imagine a faster SHELLAC and maybe a less-spastic and way more interesting RODAN. On the other hand, VLASTA POPIĆ does some excellent straight up punker tunes like on “Slijepa Nasa [Mrznja],” as well as a sort of SONIC YOUTH-y style on “Mastanje.” The rest of the album gets slower for a few songs (but still captivating) and plays around with different vocals and structures. And lest I forget — the incredible “O vodi” gives off a real SCRAWL (Ohio) style. Very recommended!
(Moonlee Records)
—Justin Davisson
