Hidden Gems & Guilty Pleasures: Repetitor (Serbia)
Photo by Christoph Voy
Repetitor (Alternative / Garage Rock / Post-Punk, Serbia)
Repetitor is an alternative/garage rock/post-punk trio from Belgrade, Serbia. They are, without a doubt, one of the most exciting live bands in Europe.
With their four albums »Sve što vidim je prvi put« (Odličan Hrčak, 2008), »Dobrodošli na okean« (Moonlee Records, 2012), »Gde ćeš« (Moonlee Records, 2016) and »Prazan prostor među nama koji može i da ne postoji« (Moonlee Records, 2020), Repetitor simply topped the charts, got nothing but rave reviews and with their highly-energetic live shows, quickly broadened their fan base.
Repetitor played numerous shows all over Europe, appeared on many festivals such as Sziget, Exit, Eurosonic, Pohoda, Europavox, Rock For People, Loftas, Stereoleto, INmusic, Waves Vienna, Botanique, etc., and even played in China and Russia.
The band faithfully carved their signature sound, a blend of heavy rock’n’roll, post-punk and everything in between. The listener is thundered by a high-voltage wall of sound, bursts of rage, fear, violence, pain and anxiety. On one side, we have Boris psychotically grinding his guitar strings and shredding chords with a punk attitude, soon to twist them into hurricane heavy riffs. On other side, there’s playful and bouncy Ana-Marija, fused with her bass guitar working on cooking a post-punk balm. All of this is glued together by the untamable beast on drums, Milena, bittery drumming away like if it’s the end of time.
Attempts to find a direct musical influence may prove to be a difficult task, but an attentive listener will recognise similarities with variety of bands, from early Mudhoney, Šarlo Akrobata, Fugazi, Sonic Youth, Pixies and early Nirvana all the way to Black Sabbath or even Suicide. That may sound irreconcilable at first, but Repetitor do it with ease and bring a sonic experience that could hardly be more enjoyable.
Repetitor definitely represent the best of Belgrade’s alternative garage rock scene. They are so genuine and unique that you can describe their music just by saying “Repetitor”. Together with Savages, Metz, Thee Oh Sess, Fat White Family, they are plunging on the transversal of the most dangerous rock bands of the moment.
Photo by Filip Tasić
“They make you fall in love with guitar rock all over again and are arguably the best guitar band on the planet right now. They are the 21st Century Nirvana who have come to save rock.” (John Robb, Louder Then War)
“Easily the most exciting band I saw during the whole festival were Serbia’s Repetitior, a noise-core trio in the Metz mould, only rawer, louder and five times as furious…” (Marc Burrows, Drowned In Sound)
“It’s chaotic, and they are angry – not in a faking it for the music kind of way, they are really fucking angry.” (Lauren Down, The Line of Best Fit)
Discography:
• »Sve što vidim je prvi put« (Odličan Hrčak, 2008)
• »Dobrodošli na okean« (Moonlee Records, 2012)
• »Gde ćeš« (Moonlee Records, 2016)
• »Prazan prostor među nama koji može i da ne postoji« (Moonlee Records, 2020)
Band members:
Boris Vlastelica – Vocals, Guitar
Ana-Marija Cupin – Bass, Vocals
Milena Milutinović – Drums, Vocals
Links:
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp | Spotify | Deezer | YouTube
For fans of The Stooges, Šarlo Akrobata, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Partibrejkers, Džukele, Mudhoney, Pixies, Ekatarina Velika
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well