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Bibione is a new all-female trio hailing from Prague, Czech
Republic, whose name seems to refer, for unknown reasons, to the Italian
seaside resort of the same name, near Venice, where some of Prague's youth
may go in search of sunny afternoons at the beach.
The first appearance of the Prague trio was with the track
Kafe je kyselý (The Coffee is Sour)
on the
Crooked To Death III
compilation released on the Czech label
Stoned To Death,
at the end of last year, in partnership with
Crook, a Czech skateboard magazine. A rather uneven compilation I must say,
with mostly tracks that are clearly not my cup of tea but a few cool ones
though like the
München Konflikt's, the
Guest User's and of course Bibione's.
Kafe je kyselý is a very good mid-tempo punk track with a
heavy and stomping rhythmic session but also an overall slight surf
vibe distilled by the main guitar riff. It's dark and disturbing and
immediately recalls some of the heaviest Riot Grrrl bands like
Babes in Toyland (and a less "hardcore" version of the
Lithuanian band
Crucial Features).
Check out their killer video-clip (I find it super cool) made of
video footages taken of the 1964 movie
Straight Jacket
featuring a disturbed and scary ageing Joan Crawford.
A few months later Bibione release their debut 7" on Stoned To Death and, in contrary to their first title in Czech, have decided to do it all in English (a bit of a shame in my opinion as I am strongly in favour of bands singing in their own language but ok).
So with five new tracks (seven if you include the two bonus ones on
the
Stoned To Death's digital version) Bibione explores a side of DIY culture that is far from
being limited to the heavy side of the
Riot Grrrl influences you could hear in Kafe je kyselý,
on the contrary. The music of the trio turns out to be rather soft at
first listen, the guitar sound reminds of bands like
Shopping
while the bass lines build discrete but catchy melodies, also
reminiscent of the English band. But it would be a mistake to believe
Bibione harmless, anger is hiding and rumbles in the background,
ready to
explode in short angry bursts
at the bend of some surf-influenced melodies. The singer then
transforms her beautiful melodic voice into screams and shouts that
immediately take on a much more punkish quality that sounds like a
warning, Bibione can bite, hard.
Bibione follows in the footsteps of bands like
Bikini Body,
MrWrong,
Necking
and
Nape Neck
which, perhaps influenced by slightly older bands like the
above-mentioned Shopping, have incorporated the post-punk of
the Slits and Delta 5 into a contemporary approach from
which the Riot Grrrl movement cannot be absent but does not
predominate.
A remarkable debut EP which gives extremely high expectations for what's coming next...
Keep it up!
picture by Dusan Kilco |
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