DZIURA W GETCIE

KURWS (also The Kurws) is a Polish progressive punk (=pronk) band from Wrocław (pronounced VRAHT-swoof), Poland that was formed in 2008 and claimed to be the unexpected result of a ping pong session. Hmmm. OK, it's true. One fateful day these busy guys decided to make time to connect and the realized they had a common interest. The rest is history. It is the case that this band is much more talented than just playing a table tennis sport and has been one of only a handful of musical groups to deftly combine the triumvirate worlds of post-punk, avant-jazz and progressive rock.

This extremely experimental band has toured Europe extensively and become a cult hit in many avant-punk circles but this is well beyond the punk paradigm although that genre does keep it centered somewhat. This is the band's debut DZIURA W GETCIE which tenderly means "Hole In The Ghetto" and with the picture of the pink pig on the cover art i can't possibly imagine what that means! This is one of those bands that has succeeded in crafting an eccentric style of genre fusion that manages to sound like no other. KURWS somehow manages to mix post-punk with Krautrock, no wave, avant-prog and jazz into a satisfying cauldron of creativity that also delves into no wave, math rock and noise. Well done!

This is a mostly instrumental album with a few lyrics appearing in the band's native Polish language. This is also a well calculated album as it doesn't banter the senses with stimulation. Rather it sensually introduces new sounds, new ideas and new musical motifs without sounding forced. Musical genre tags are a guess at best. Where does Krautrock end and post-rock begin? There are more gray areas than actual certainly and such is the reality of life in general but one thing is for sure and that is that on KURWS debut album, all is kept on simmer with punkish scaffolding finding traces of jazz, Kraut, funk and other genres deftly blending together like lipstick on a pig! Ha!

Unlike most punk inspired albums, this one has "normal" song lengths which result in 12 tracks that almost hit 39 minutes. The vocals are minimal but when present are totally in the punk vibe. So is most of the guitar work but the band carefully crafts the album to "migrate" into various other styles of music without feeling forced. Krautrock is a clear winner for these departures but the no wave aspects are ubiquitous as are the avant-prog time signature freakery. There are moments of funky bass and jittery math rock but the band also manages to incorporate a healthy dose of avant-jazz into the mix with sax squawking interpolating its presence into various nooks and crannies. This is an extremely pleasant album to sink into. It's almost like easy listening for the most extreme hardcores but so well done i am in admiration.