Despite its rocky past and future, Yugoslavia had a flourishing art scene. It was heavily influenced by the west, especially musically like its adoption of New Wave ('Novi Talas') but also had its own musical identity to show. Along with borrowing from bigger countries, there were also various musical movements especially in the 80s, such as the New Primitivism ('Novi primitivizam') scene centered in Sarajevo, Bosnia's capital city. Unlike the other neighboring capitals like Belgrade or Zagreb, it was in a unique situation as it was on the crossroads of various nationalities and influences which led to this movement being the most interesting one that came from Yugoslavia. Plavi Orkestar (Blue Orchestra) formed in 1983, going on to cement themselves as one of the country's most essential bands.
Serving as the first single for the album, released the year prior, Suada is an emotional, ballad-like Pop Rock song led by Saša Lošić's youthful, passionate vocals. It's definitely my favorite off the album, though making it the opener is a bit of a strange choice. The iconic music video for it, filmed on a rooftop, shows off the sometimes sarcastic but still genuine and passionate attitude:
Despite ironically being one of the anthems of New Primitivism, the song was created as a parody of it, with the band's vocalist saying this in an interview:„We were at a party and they asked us to play something local. The guitarist Mladen Pavičić and I went into the kitchen and said we were going to make a folk song, just for fun. I started with 'Ti si meni sve' [You are everything to me], and Pave jumped in with 'Ti mi daješ sve' [You give me everything]. We wrote the song just messing around, and since it was a folk song, we gave it a folk name, 'Suada'. We went back out and sang the whole song. By the end of the evening, we had played it 20 times.“
Another song highlighting the more genuine side of the band, Bolje biti pijan nego star ["Better to be drunk than old], is the second single released for the album. The song's chorus almost satiricizes the rest of the song, with its lyrics about a girl waiting for the protagonist outside a high school, contrasting the theme of old age. Another thing it shows off about the album is how it's more influenced by Bosnian folk music, in this song and others. It's a nice detail that gives the album a lot more flavor aside from the standard Pop Rock production. Kad mi kažeš Paša [When you tell me Paša] is the best example of this, being a stripped-down acoustic but still incredibly catchy recording. It ends with one of the most beautiful parts of the album in terms of production and melody, with a dreamy guitar capping it off.
Goodbye Teens is another ballad about aging but this time mostly sung in English, steeped in late-teen melancholy and slightly cheesy synths.
The other side to this spectrum are the more macho-like, Rock-leaning tracks that still maintain the anthemic nature of the record. They're partially influenced by the vocalist's time in the military, shown in the lyrics. Examples like (Medena curice) Daj mi vruće rakije [Sweet little girl, give me some hot rakia] and others help keep the album varied and are among some of the best in pure energy and songwriting. The guitar, bass and drums, are mostly very bouncy yet jerky, showing off the New Wave influence and giving many tracks amazing grooves.
Soldatski bal is one of the defining records of Bosnia and Yugoslavia as a whole. I adore the songwriting, singing and especially vocal performances on it and think it best shows off the spirit of New Primitivism more than any other band did.
9/10
See also: Zabranjeno Pušenje, Crvena Jabuka, Prljavo Kazalište
Listen here: Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube
- kreyzi
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