March has passed, so what has happened inside the Hungarian underground? Here are our recommendations for now: Kaktus • DRMRZ • Retröxx • The Psychocean.
A long, detailed review is too boring? Or you just don’t have time for reading but you wanna know who to listen to? Do you wanna meet newcomers from Hungary? You are in the right place. Our series, What’s the Story, Hungarian Underground? recommends new materials monthly. So you can familiarise yourself with some fresh, catchy music. This time we present 4 fresh pieces of stuff – Kaktus • DRMRZ • Retröxx • The Psychocean from March 2018.
Kaktus: Yellow Stage
We’ve been following them since the beginning, the now five-member group is one of the coolest formations. The band released its latest LP for two years. The new material is faster, and these new, speedy sounds seem to be a good turn. It’s needed for their eclectic-electronic psychedelic music, it gives them a real revival. And I have to say that ‘Yellow Stage’ has a potential to widen their universe. My personal favorites are definitely ‘Amazon Drive’ and ‘Transylvania’. I’m eagerly looking forward to listening to them at a Festival. If you wanna check’em LIVE, you can do it on the 21st of April at Pécsi Est. They will perform before Zagar. After that you can catch’em in Budapest where they will have a 3rd Anniversary GIG on the 26th of April at Toldi. Or at least in the summer during Bánkitó Festival on the 13th of July.
DRMRZ: Symbol Syndrome
Kristóf Dobos’ introductory album, ‘Symbol Syndrome’ is a missing link with an atmosphere, which was missing for long. The whole material was written and recorded in only 5 weeks at home. It’s gonna be a major one this year, I have to say. We’ve been waiting for materials like this for so long, cause if we wanna listen to super intimate kinda tones, most of the time we must resort to foreign performers like Jack White or PJ Harvey. But now we have DRMRZ.
[If you wanna check out our article about Kristóf’s debut, CLICK HERE!]
Retröxx: Face Your Demons
If you like cyberpunk kinda movie soundtrack feeling, you will definitely enjoy their music. Some say that it’s totally 80s kinda stuff, and I have to agree with it. But if you listen to it more carefully, you will notice that it’s a bit more than that. The collaboration between the electronic stuff and the guitar themes are awesome. I admire it. But I must say it’s more for house-parties than for a LIVE music act but you wanna check to say which is much comfortable fit for them. I tried it for reading as a soft background music, and it worked. But first things first, it’s really worth a try 🙂
The Psychocean: A Plafonon túl
This piece has at least two faces. The band had a premier with a bilingual material, but I must say, it’s not a problem. Both the Hungarian and the English songs are working in the same universe which is a dimension between the British pop-rock and Hungarian alt-rock. It’s a miscellaneous LP from a slow love song to a 2min 30sec quick speed pop party hit. I prefer the faster ones like ‘Szilveszter Éjjel’ (‘New Year’s Eve’) or ‘H.I.V. Negative’, but my personal favourite is ‘Sixteen’. It’s a rough rollercoaster with a possibility to become a really cool summer hit. If you wanna check’em out LIVE, try their EP Release SHOW on the 26th of April at Dürer Kert.
So, that’s all for now. See you at the end of April next time ?
EDITED by Károly Gergely
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