Today, Balkan Express makes a stop in a place where the natives might take issue with the Balkan descriptor. Slovenian region of Gorenjska is not really what comes to mind when one thinks of the Balkans. It’s more like Austria, but fun. Judging by their music, Smetnaki / The Dustbins could have come from anywhere in the Balkans. But they come from Gorenjska.
Smetnaki are a six-member act from Kranj and Tržič that really should be doing something more serious with their lives. And who knows, maybe they do. After all, every single one of them is a trained jazz musician. But luckily for us, they also decided to dabble in ska-funk-punk, seemingly just for shits and giggles.
Smetnaki
Music of Smetnaki is laced with humour and irony. It is less about following a trend and more about dealing with life. But not taking it too seriously, either. Or taking themselves too seriously, for that matter. How else would you describe a band that prefers cold coffee to a bunch of groupies?
Smetnaki have been around since 2017. But even before they got around to properly recording their material, the lineup had changed dramatically in 2020. Ever since, Smetnaki are Amadei Šaršanski (bass guitar), Anže Podobnik (drums), Žan Škrjanec (trombone) Anže Balantič (trumpet), Gal Grobovšek (tenor sax and vocals) and Rok Valjavec (guitar).
Nominally, Smetnaki straddle the cross-section between ska, punk and funk. The band themselves insist that they are not bound to any specific genre. But listen closely and you'll hear jazz in all its forms.
If you crack open a dustbin, you’ll find life’s leftovers. Which is not unlike how Smetnaki see themselves. Their music is a potpourie of things life’s thrown at them throughout the years. And which music has allowed them to process.
Smetnaki released their first EP in 2022, and their debut studio album a couple of weeks ago. Titled Good Enough Album, it is an unfiltered look at life, as seen though Smetnaki’s eyes. Not always beautiful to look at and not always smelling nice, but interesting and challenging, nevertheless.
And that’s all the time we have for this week. Check out Smetnaki on YouTube, Spotify and wherever you get your music from. And Balkan Express will be back next week.
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Balkan Express brings you the latest and/or the greatest in music from the Balkans. On air every Tuesday at 11am on Ara City Radio, it is hosted by Aljaž aka @pengovsky who once did the world a solid and vowed never to sing again in public. Which is how he ended up doing radio.