Azra

Imagine if you couldn't buy or stream a Nirvana Album? Like Bleach, Nevermind or even my fav In Utero. That's a reality for some of Balkan People.

A band named Azra, made this reality real for many people from Ex-Yugoslavia. Their first album is a mix of the Beatles, the Kinks, Weezer and Nirvana. So basically something that sounds impossible on paper, but somehow it's beautifuly done here. On one track it talks about sex and kissing your crush while it sounds like it's something off "With the Beatles", while the next track is about how old people deserve some love too and sounds like something off "Face to Face". They talk about a very slutty girl on one of the last tracks, and they made is sound like a Outtake from "Bleack". A Song about the Singer getting a T-shirt from his Aunt from America, that's says "I love Iggy Pop". Very random, catching, deep and teenage angsty lyrics.

The very last song, is something I can only describe as a breakup song or something. Branimir "Johnny" Stulić (the writer) sings how much he wants this girl, how he wants to sleep with her, how she just needs to look at him and he...uhm...climaxes. just very horny and desprate. After a quick guitar solo, the drums kick in and just this chorus of each member singing this catchy "la la la la" brings the song to a climax. And then just boom, silents. The Album ending with Johnny just playing the beginning notes of the song.

Now, if you're intrested in listening to any of this, you're out of luck. There is a whole story about this and why it's not on streaming. I can't sadly explain it to you in this short review, but Johnny has his own YT Channel where he uploads some covers and if the Record label accepts it some tracks of the albums he made. It's really hard to track down any of his songs, it's like if SGT Peppers, was scrambled, and the Title Track was on Paul McCartneys website and it's only a shitty live version that is in very poor quality.

Like I said, that's the sad reality for most of the people who loved azra growing up.

I was blessed by getting most of their albums from my dad, both in tape and on vinyl and let me tell you I played their first album to death. Get's a straight up 100 from me.