Tena Novak

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Band: Tena Novak 

Nationality: Croatia   

Genre: post-rock

Links:

Web site: www.tenanovak.com
MP3's:
http://www.tenanovak.com/MP3/Indijanska.mp3
http://www.tenanovak.com/MP3/Nacionalni%20parkovi.mp3
http://www.tenanovak.com/MP3/Potjera.mp3
http://www.tenanovak.com/MP3/Speleologija.mp3

Bio: Tena Novak formed in Zagreb in 2003. After a several line-up changes (new bass player and a drummer), the band founded their own, unique sound. Hrvoje Radnic (ex Kwadrat nodnoll.) is a big fan of  americana, REM, Velvet Underground and post rock  and rock with more experimental approach as well. He is utilising an e-bow on his guitar, often combined with alternative tunes (sometimes combinations of guitar and bass wires). Gorgeous Tena Novak (band is named after her) is classically trained, but the influences of Croatian folk music are evident too. Hrvoje Niksic (ex Sumski) is your typical vintage keyboard freak, heavily leaning on Krautrock sound(s). Both Pauk members (Kresimir and Igor) are influenced by 70's rock and artists like Led Zeppelin and the like. Mario Kovac (ex Schmrtz Teatar) is responsible for the sound effects, theremins' bleeps and burps.
They played many live gigs in Croatia and abroad, and opened for several known artists (most notably Damo Suzuki). However, they didn't published any albums so far. It's a long overdue for this band to lose their demo status.

Line Up: 

Tena Novak - electric violin
Krešimir Pauk - bass
Mario Kovač - sound effects
Hrvoje Radnić - guitar
Hrvoje Nikšić - keyboards
Igor Pauk - drums
Marko Caklovic - visuals

My review:

I don't have any demo audio material of this band (save the songs presented on their web site), so I will rate their live performance that I witnessed in 2003 and their sound in general.

Through the noise of audience I caught several sweet sounds and realised that concert just started. The audience cross-faded with band's sequences. The majority of the tracks are following the same template - but they are not less interesting because of that. Songs are opening with simple but lovely melody of Niksic's Fender Rhodes piano, and slowly, as dynamics is ascending, guitar and violin (occasionally playing in unison) are starting to whisper from the background until reaching the nadir. It's a lovely old trick that Radnic plays simple guitar pattern in irregular time signature (he learned that in Kwadrat nodnoll I guess), while drum and bass are slowly driving in 4/4 under it, and Tena's violin is slowly playing legato tones somewhere on the other side of the dreams. Kovac's theremin is giving a counterpoint of the atmosphere rather than emphasising the main theme (Gong pops to mind).

Overall sound is very dreamy, somewhat hermetic in a good way, pleasant, and that invisible link with the audience happened very quickly; there was some sort of an intimate atmosphere although there were no explicit/verbal interaction with the crowd.

But nothing is perfect, and I must point out a few (in my opinion) negative aspects of their performance and overall sound.
Niksic's electric piano reminded me more than once of Led Zeppelin's No Quarter. Okay, that is not necessary a bad thing. But he plays a role of keyboardist and a role of sound technician simultaneously; above his keys there's an analog 16 track mixer and he is responsible for the 50% percent of dynamics of band fellow members.
The drums and bass seemed a bit too simplistic at moments; while bass couldve been described as "meditative", the drums were too raw, and, I must say, amateurish. Musicianship improved with time (concert was in 2003 mind you), and band added a drum-machine to fill some gaps here and there (certainly it's one of the analog old Boss machines from huge Hrvoje's vintage collection).

At the end of the concert my friends and me felt calmness and satisfaction - but there was a wish to improve a few thingies and make the whole appearance more flashy because they were buried underneath occasional amateurisms and misconceptions.

In a few words: lovely, very good and...innocent.