GONE BALD – 100 ways to become cool

(CD & DVD & Book, narrominded)

I have said it a hundred times and I’ll say it a hundred times more, even if it didn’t help the first time around and the odds are bad that it will help the second time around. That is my little contribution to giving back a little of what this band has given to the world, and to make them gain some of what they deserve and which never seems to materialize. So, here we go: Gone Bald rock. They are a great, energetic, dynamic and dedicated noise-rock band of the old school of noise rock and I love their songs, their energy and mostly the punch their music is able to deal. A hard, dense and closely focused punch that hits you exactly in the solar plexus and makes you go “whoa”. Why Gone Bald never made it beyond the subculture-status they have is beyond me. Subculture-status is a nicer word for virtually unknown outside a small circle of lovers and fans. It is a write around for the “best Croatian noise rock band from Amsterdam” label they carry around for more than a dozen years now. It is a pity and it also says more about the state of music today, the (dis)interest of people in exciting and honest guitarwork on stage. How a lot of people seem to shy away from real emotion and dedication and are afraid of the big suckerpunch that noise rock might give them. Yes, I do wonder.

But there are some reasons. One is the genre of noise rock, and I do mean the sweaty, beer drenched, next door garage noise rock that always was the dirty older brother of grunge, that lived on Amphetamine Reptile and that kicked ass for half a decade. Actually, it still does, but the kids prefer shit like Marylin Manson today and the alternative rockers go for freak folk (yes, freak folk is a lot of fun but I am not sure if it will mean as much to people in ten years as The Cows or God Bullies still mean to some people today…) or – behold! – electropunk. Noise rock never was big to begin with, so why would three Croatian outsiders trying their luck from Amsterdam ever make it big? Why the fuck not! Just because all odds are against them?

It seems that Gone Bald, and that means mainly the main head Ivica Kosavic, have been running against windmills for quite some time now, always fighting and believing and fighting for what they believe. No wait, this sounds worse than it is. They are not martial or aggressive, their music is intense, but not hostile. Most of all they are dedicated and that means more than just a lot. Kosavic aka Razorblade Jr. has been going on and on and on. And despite all the adversities they have done a lot, you’ll just have to find it. As an aside this thought makes me go back and dig for music again. The knowledge that something great might be hidden and all you have to do is dig a little to find it wakens the old discovery spirit in me. Remember, when listening to new music and new bands was exciting? I am getting the idea back that this is still possible for me as well, after the thousands of songs I have heard. It is like an energy refill. Now, “100 ways to become cool” collects a big dosis of all that and some more.

There is a CD with seven great compositions, on par with the great stuff that was pressed onto “soul vacation in rehab clinic” (on Interstellar) and “exotic klaustrophobia” (on Narrominded). Of course, the production is not as clean as that of “Excellent Italian Greyhound”, but then nothing is. I just compare them because they have come out at about the same time and because I am listening to both a lot these days. And I guess that Steve Albini is a big influence for Razorblade Jr as well, though he is original and creative (and probably also stubborn) enough to go and search for something of his own. There is a lot of instrumental parts in these songs, a lot of control over the dynamcis and evolution of the songs. Does that come with age and maturity? Also, the rhythms are sometimes a little off beat (no, their playing is in perfect time, but the rhythms are not interested in straight 4/4 beats…) which makes listening a little exhausting, but then there is no reason why everything should be made easy for the listener. Everybody knows where that did bring us, right? Making things easy for the listener brings us to casting shows and ringtones for mobile phones, so fuck that.

Then there is a DVD with two (!) documentaries about Gone Bald and a lot of clips from live-shows and videos. Great stuff indeed, even if the sound quality is not up to what it should be for a music documentary. But then these are amateur recordings a lot, so they are meant to capture an atmosphere, to spark a memory, and they do that. And moreover, people look at tiny pictures with non-existing sound quality on YouTube and get all excited about that, so why complain here? Well, I don’t like YouTube all that much, except for the novelty stuff, but I can sense a lot of passion and intensity in even the worst recordings on this DVD, so it is great. Finally the package contains a small book with snippets, messages, interviews and essays about Gone Bald and all together should tell you all you ever need to know about this band.