|
Having worked for a year as a tutor in a literacy center for immigrants, I realize there are certain universals that bring people together. One of them is music, and let me preface this review by saying I have no idea what these
Czech-born rockers are saying, but I know exactly where they're coming from.
The opener, "A.Letec", reminds me immediately of Sonic Youth's touchstone
Daydream Nation, in that its structures are buzzing and ghostly white. The discomfort of poverty in unclean streets braces against
dirgy self-satisfaction and unsettling noise.
The title track is a bit less dissonant, but just as unnerving; pinning trip-hop scats to the swelling darkness. If in those early days of
Sonic Youth, they gave into every one of their gothic inclinations (and were multi-lingual, of course), it might sound a lot like Sona A Kuva. Overall, it is though the trio has grown up far too fast in neglected surroundings. The sense of spare hopelessness brings to mind a Dickensian workshop, wherein "Snek" shows they are yearning to break free, if they were not so overwhelmed by their own despair.
Dense rockers like "Moje Ruce" are parenthetically enjoyable, despite the wholly bleak nature of the album. Those emo kids may rise from the corners of suburbs to claim their depression, but it is a feeling of oppression encapsulated by their monotonous, dark sound that rolls deflated hearts into something substantial.
Reviewed by Sarah Iddings
|
