Pekinska Patka – Plitka Poezija (Jugoton Records) 1980. One of the best punk longplayers ever released in my opinion. This is Pekinsa Patka’s first LP. The second one (Strah od monotonije) is a little more nuanced affair. But this one…YES! This one is amazing. As are the early 45s which are pretty well represented on the album.
If you have never heard Pekinska Patka, they are the most well known of all the late 1970/early 1980 punk bands from the Serbian portion of the former Yugoslavia. Like most other countries, Yugoslavia had a pretty definable sound that when you hear it bears the mark of its country of origin. What makes a lot of it so damn entertaining is this seemingly contradictory combination of streetpunk vocal structures which convey a certain Eastern European populism with angular guitar lines and unusual instrumental breaks, which to my western ears, sound “arty”. The end result is either some of the most creative sounding “oi” type music you will ever hear or some of the most fun “art punk” you will ever hear. One or the other. Yep.
Beyond this, Pekinska Patka adds an amazing singer in Nebojsa Conkic-Conta who just belts this shit out in an immediately distinctive baritone. The other Patka secret weapon is Cila, the drummer. He has this one trick where he hits every beat with the same emphasis that just KILLS. He uses it on a lot of Pekinsa Patka’s best songs and you’ll know it when you hear it. I have never heard a beat in a punk song that screams out “pogo” the way Cila’s drumming does. For further evidence, exhibit A:
As usual, I added a couple of samples. The zip file is below:
Pekinska Patka – Plitka Poezija
01. PODERIMO ROCK
02. HAMBURG
03. BOLJE DA NOSIM KRATKU KOSU
04. STOP STOP
05. BITI RUŽAN, PAMETAN I MLAD
06. ORI ORI
07. SKAKADAK
08. KRATKOVIDI MAGARAC
09. BELA Å LJIVA
10. JA SAM PUNKER U SAKOU STAROM
11. KONTRACEPCIJA
12. Å TA JE ZBLIZILO NAS
13. GLEDA, JA SAM SVOJ
14. NEVER MY LOVE
15. LJUBAV
16. ZA YOKO ONO
Plitka Poezija (zip file)
There’s a great myspace here. Pekinska Patka also have a very well-researched wiki entry here. Pekinska Patka ended up breaking up largely due to the lack of interest in their second LP. Also Nebojsa Conkic-Conta, ended up doing mandatory army service. Rumour has it, he is somewhere in the US today.
…oh and I did a post on Yugoslavian punk a while back here featuring a lot of Pekinska Patka contemporaries. It’s here
Well… ÄŒonta (singer) left fot Canada in mid-90-s (he is an engineer)
Mandatory army service was usual – normal thing in Yugoslavia back then. So you can not write “he ended up doing it” — it was common for thousands.
Their 2nd LP is also very good (sort of dark post-punk, but not boring) They broke up because they were all young and expected some money of being the best punk band in Yugoslavia. But they didnt, so they broke up.Simple as that. Still they are even today legendary band!
This band F-ing rocks! One of the best bands out of the former Yugoslavia!
this is pretty good. i have started humming along to some of the songs. what’s with the low quality drum sound? can’t understand a word they say but i like it. thanks.