Repetitor have a fund of human energy that they are looking to share as soon as possible, that’s what gives them their incredible focus on this record. The hooks are sharp, abrasive and metallic, gritty to the feel, like iron fillings.
Repetitor have a fund of human energy that they are looking to share as soon as possible, that’s what gives them their incredible focus on this record. The hooks are sharp, abrasive and metallic, gritty to the feel, like iron fillings.
Moonlee Recordings
This is a stunning record. I can’t speak a word of Serbo Croat but I can tell just by the way the songs are hurled at you, flicked out at you like snot off your thumb, that this band means shit. That it’s angry stuff goes without saying. This band is heavy. The lyrics on tracks like U Pravom Trenutku or the shredding machine that is Oktobarski Salon are more like pronouncements or the reading out of prison sentences. Because the songs are so innately tough there’s no need for ego, no room for any flourishes or witty asides: nope, it’s basic information, basic rations, fly poster style. And anyway, sometimes these things don’t matter: this stuff is beyond translation – what would you gain by knowing – so despite the mantra that information is important, we can cut to the quick and substitute human emotion and fellow feeling for all these facts, for all the facts in the world.
So let’s forget the lyrics, however the fuck they translate: it’s the sound, the sound is just mind-bending at times. Repetitor have a fund of human energy that they are looking to share as soon as possible, that’s what gives them their incredible focus on this record. The hooks are sharp, abrasive and metallic, gritty to the feel, like iron fillings. Balance this against the flowing ichor of the incredible rhythm section and you have the essence of Repetitor; a sinewy structure that the band hangs their creations on: flexible, adaptable but supremely strong, sappy and vibrant. At times – especially with tracks like Devojke Idu U Minhen and Dostpupni I Laki where this shape-shifting, otherworldly focus is balanced against a grimy, tough urban presence, the sound harks back to that of an early, feral Joy Division.
And, a bit like Joy Division’s work, this record is often like staring at something very strange through an incredibly powerful and clear lens where, despite the rarity of the subject matter, everything is explained at once to the idle viewer. There’s no place to hide, there can be no confusion even though there’s a lot of intelligence and imagination in the band.
Things end on a surprising note to with the campfire ditty Pripazi Na Ljude, which does throw you to a certain extent, but Dobrodošil Na Okean is a remarkable record, made by a remarkable band.