An eastern European-styled name, herky-jerky and – sigh, open up the vocabulary vaults – angular guitar lines, shreddy, second-album Strokes-ish guitar… WHAT YEAR IS THIS? WHO’S THE PRESIDENT? The passing whims of fashion shouldn’t stand in the way of a good tune, though, and Balkans have the likes of the jittering, antsy ‘Edita V’ and ‘Dressed In Black’.
If this debut had come out five years ago, they’d probably have been carried aloft through the streets, such is the subtle, well-structured blend of post-punk and psychy, garagey touches (they are stage-mates of Black Lips and King Khan, after all) , but sadly it just all comes off a bit heard-it-all-before.
Duncan Gillespie
NME
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