I’ve always felt province can give us much more than it did. There are more “space” for musicians to dream, to think, to contemplate, and finally, to compose.
Somewhere at the end of the world the best music is born: Skryabin, raised on forests of a tiny, but progressive Novoyavorivsk, caught between Poland and Ukraine; Mike Oldfield, who created his masterpieces right on the hills and meadows of England; remote, insular New Zealand of The Chills, The Bats and The Clean; or confirmed hick Martin Newell, inspired by endless rural fields – just to name a few.
Зэ Джозерс (it’s a transliteration of “The Jossers”), though, aren’t so outstanding melodists as the guys mentioned above, and, what is more, aren’t melodists at all – their passion is a dissonant, atonal guitar work with complex rhythm structures, which they do with equal genius. Take a look at the time signatures: 5/4, then 4/4, then it goes 6/8 and even 11/8, changing again to 5/4 – and that’s just in one song, maybe the simplest album piece called “Фэилор”. But the hardest part is to make that complexity easy-to-perceive, invisible to an average ear – and Jossers did it well.
Emergence of such a high-level band in a small, godforsaken Kalush could be a sign the Ukrainian province is already beginning to truly realize its potential, what may soon lead to another music revolution, capable of bringing completely new styles and new kind of worldview into the state’s scene. The group’s previous CD, titled as “Unsupported Bravery Of Local Kids” (with the relevant philosophy in it) only confirms the process is already in motion. “Спор” EP offers us the intellectual, sophisticated post-punk, what makes Serhiy Voronov almost a Tom Verlain – or Richard Hell-like figure among his fellow countrymen.
By the way, Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth and Guided By Voices lovers may also find this music attractive. Don’t miss the deep, cathartic “Odds and Ends” lyric video – The Jossers refer to it as a coded message, and I was told there are lot of Easter eggs here.
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Stream “Спор” on Spotify.
Зэ Джозерс on Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, www.