This week, Balkan Express makes another stop in Croatia. True, this goes against the “Express” part of the show, but we promise it will be worth it. And you don’t even need shrooms for it. Even though we can’t promise these guys never did. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Šumski.
Šumski (photo: Ratko Mavar)
Šumski, or Forest Man, have a long and somewhat storied history. And it all began in the mists of time, that is to say, in 1991, just as the old country was bursting at the seams, bleeding everywhere at once. Back then, a couple of kids from Croatian capital Zagreb got together to do, what kids of that age do. Play music of Amon Düül, a weird 1960s Bavarian krautrock collective. As one does.
Their experimentation with krautrock took Šumski into weird places bands usually go by using other sorts of green veggies. They’ve even managed to release two DIY cassettes and a proper CD release Baba spava / Mother is Sleeping in 2000.
In 2003, Šumski released their second album, Ronioci / Divers, that started them on an international tour which proved to be the pinnacle of their work to date, but also almost their undoing. Namely, following that tour, the band lay dormant for a decade and a half.
In 2018, Šumski returned to the scene with what many considered their best work until then. Ostrvo ledenog kita / The Island of the Ice Whale re-established their psychedelic credentials, added a pinch of the grotesque and wrapped it all in a pop-music format.
In general, Šumski are billed as a slightly psychedelic band, with a penchant for ethno motives, Dadaistic sounds and added noise, pretending to be pop-rock pieces. Think of them as the Croatian version of the Dutch band Focus, but sans the flute.
Šumski are a six-member all-male collective. Formed by Kornel Šeper and Martin Juraga, the lineup now also includes Viktor Krasić, Franjo Glušac and Igor Pavlica on the trumpet. Counting their initial self-releases on casettes, they released six albums. The last one, Kolobari, was released in 2022.
And that’s all the time we have for today. Check out Šumski on YouTube, Bandcamp and wherever you get your music from and Balkan Express will be back next week