Milestones

Republika

Name: Republika – Nowe sytuacje
Item: Nowe sytuacje
Author: Federico Romagnoli

Nowe sytuacje

1983 (Polton)

art-rock, post-punk

by Federico Romagnoli

During the Cold War, Poland was the Warsaw Pact country with the most vibrant rock scene. Despite a situation that was tragic in many respects, despite instances of censorship, despite attempts at boycott by the police, despite the flight of some prominent figures of the local culture, artists were left free to make rock music, and as the Eighties began they did so with a fury that left people stunned. Hard rock and post-punk, even in their most experimental forms, stormed the charts, selling truckloads of records. In times when it was hard even to get hold of basic foodstuffs, many young people weren't willing to give up the vinyl just released by their heroes: better to go hungry than be cut off from the one thing that still made them feel alive.

La new wave Polish, or more simply nowa falagave rise in the first half of the Eighties to four bands capable of finding their way into every young person's home in the country, four bands whose names are inextricably linked to one another, in a rivalry that never really existed, if anything a mutual stimulus in giving voice to those who needed it: Lady Pank, Maanam, Perfect, and indeed Republika. The latter are today the most celebrated by critics and listeners of alternative music.

Please refer to the monograph on Republika already published by OndaRock, in order to learn both about the events that led to the band's formation, and about the complicated context in which it operated during its first two years of existence (that is, during the martial law declared by General Wojciech Jaruzelski), as well as about its exchange with the audience of Radio Trójka (a rare, if not unique, case — within a communist regime — of a megaphone for dissidents that was based inside the institutional apparatus itself).

Here it will suffice to recall that, before reaching the album under review, Republika were already known to the general public, thanks to a handful of singles released starting in May 1982, culminating in December of that same year in the generational anthem "Biała flaga" ("White Flag"), which fiercely lashed out against the party and its institutions, albeit without naming names.

Their debut LP, "Nowe sytuacje", came out in April '83, achieving a sensational commercial success: with 360,000 copies sold, it would be the third best-selling record of the year, but the first in terms of revenue for state coffers, since it was shrewdly put on sale at a markedly higher price than other albums. Naturally, the band wouldn't see a penny of that income. rock star wasn't considered a serious profession by the authorities, and anyone who took that path had to settle for a regular salary, just like any other employee. Many artists thus ran into major difficulties in everyday life: their records made a corrupt system heaps of money, but they still had to live in beehive-like apartment blocks or wait two hours outside a grocery store, among the poorest of the poor (any documentary about Poland at the time will show you endless lines of people waiting to get basic necessities). This led to situations in which singers were recognized and met with scornful remarks from a public convinced of their well-off status.

Thinking about it, the memorable cover with its diagonal black-and-white stripes perfectly represents the world Republika were forced to live in: stripped down to the bone, cold, schematic, but also capable of brutality. It's no coincidence that the following record, "Nieustanne tango", would feature the same design, symbolically damaged by a burn mark. The graphic designer was Andrzej Ludew, the band's manager.

For nowa fala of Republika, it's time to take stock: effect-laden off-beat guitars, hammering piano, flute solos in the style of Jethro Tull on amphetamines, syncopated rhythms, constant tempo changes and all sorts of oddities (the odd time signatures of "Śmierć w bikini" and "Halucynacje", the Morse code of "System nerwowy" and so on). It's hard to pin down exactly what kind of creature this is: the sound is abrasive, yet the production - handled by the band itself - boasts absolute professionalism; the tracks are as obsessive as punk, but packed with ideas reminiscent of progressive rock.

What's truly stunning, though, are the vocal parts, which push what was already shown on the early singles to the extreme. To make sure the message gets across, singer and multi-instrumentalist Grzegorz Ciechowski builds songs that are essentially mantras in rock form. The word deemed key to the concept, or in some cases simply a syllable placed strategically, ends up being repeated as many as fifty times within a single song. Often, at the end of one of these barrages, it spills over into sobs, nasal vocalizations and desperate screams, which over time would become a genuine trademark. The rest is down to the constant mood swings, from sensual to furious, from mysterious to gleeful. It's a continuous assault, reinforced by the fact that his bandmates back Ciechowski on vocals, at times building walls of voices steeped in hysteria.

La title track goes straight on the attack: "These are new new new new situations, new new new new situations, new new new new situations, new new new new situations, new situations new orientations."

The reference is to the protests against the party that swept through Poland in 1982. Despite numerous arrests and the temporary dissolution of Solidarność, Ciechowski knows the population hasn't yet lost hope and that negotiations are bound to resume. His instinct proves right: on 22 July 1983 martial law is suspended, although there would still be plenty of further abuses to witness between then and 1989.

The manifesto of "Mój imperializm" needs no explanation: "My imperialism will consume you [...] Now you're mine, not yours, not yours, not yours, no. Foreign capital will devour you. I'll make you believe revolution is a sin, and you'll do nothing."

The symbolism of "Arktyka" is more layered. "Siberia has broken into our hearts," sings Ciechowski, before describing, in the closing scene, people freezing to death in their own homes. It can be read both as a snapshot of bourgeois complicity with the regime and as a slice of real life, given that heating fuel was among the rationed goods of the era. To drive the point home, parts of the track are accompanied by a spectral gust of wind, while guitarist Zbyszek Krzywański carves out long, blade-sharp barrages.

Though dense with dark omens, the lyrics of "Śmierć w bikini" are among the few that aren't political. Seduced by a woman in a swimsuit, Ciechowski realizes she is actually death. For once, it seems to be simply an evocative image.

The album closes with "My lunatycy", where young people unable to fall in line with the rules isolate themselves in their own world and are swallowed up by it: "Sleeping pills are our Eucharist. We sleepwalkers vanish from circulation, right now. We switch on a fake, silvery amusement park. And we know nothing of what's going on." The contrast between the bleakness of the words and the drive of the music is striking, thanks above all to Paweł Kuczyński's bass, mixed right up front.

With the possible exception of "Śmierć w bikini", no song on the album has remained as popular over time as the singles that immediately preceded it, but the record as a whole is regarded as a classic of Polish rock, if not its very pinnacle.

There's also an English-language version, titled 1984, released in the British market by the independent label Mega Organisation. As one might expect, the pronunciation is imperfect, but the exercise proves interesting because the instrumental tracks were re-recorded from scratch, presenting some subtle differences from the originals.

Republika's adventure would go on for a long while yet: put on hold in 1986, they would reunite in 1990, while Ciechowski used the break for a successful solo detour under the name Obywatel G.C. ("Citizen G.C."). The definitive split would come about through force majeure: on 22 December 2001 Ciechowski would suddenly die of an aortic aneurysm. The band wouldn't have the heart to carry on without their linchpin, whose legend nonetheless remains firmly fixed in the collective memory of several generations of Poles.

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22/12/2019

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This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Federico Romagnoli, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.

Read the original in Italian · About the English edition

Tracklist

1. Nowe sytuacje
2. System nerwowy
3. Prąd
4. Arktyka
5. Śmierć w bikini
6. Będzie plan
7. Mój imperializm
8. Halucynacje
9. Znak "="
10. My lunatycy

REPUBLIKA on the web

Official website

Republika on OndaRock

Monograph

Republika

The post-punk that dripped blood

With an elaborate blend of art rock and post-punk, as well as scathing lyrics against the regime for which they personally risked a great deal, Grzegorz Ciechowski and his Republika represented the very best that Poland's astonishing rock scene had to offer