Greshka: Inebriation | 4ZZZ Brisbane 102.1FM

- My first experience with Greshka was at Woodford, 2016, where the band's confusing genre tags and tongue-in-cheek blurb painted them as obvious outsiders amidst the folksy affair. It was a typically muggy festival evening when I witnessed the self-described 'neo-gypsy/klezmer ensemble' knock a crowd of unsuspecting hippies onto their collective asses. Hyperactive horn lines met head-banging breakdowns and infectious polka riffs for an utterly bonkers affair, culminating in a side-splitting cover of The Count von Count's theme from Sesame Street. A few nights later, the group re-formed as 'Greshk-elektro' to bring in the new year with techno-folk adaptations. I immediately knew they were something special.

Inebriation is the band's third album, but boasts a significant step-up in production and promotion. Bandleader Andre Bonetti is a jack-of-all-trades in Brisbane's scene, fronting the 17 piece thrash-metal big-band Valtozash and playing Italian folk tunes in Zumpa to fill his time. Andre handles all composition duties for Greshka, at times singing and directing the group on his cimbalom - a hammered, dulcimer-like instrument prominent in the Austro-Hungarian region. A troupe of talented Brisbanites back Bonetti through polyrhythmic passages and grooves abound; there's flurries of horns, drums, and the occasional shredding guitar to round out the roster.

Lead single To Prune A Triffid centers the cimbalom's plucky prowess as Andre's arpeggios lead the band on a high-speed chase. The fantastically titled first track Fishbah Fandangus Ferguson's Famous Fancy Fountain furthers the furore, its metallic vamp precariously guiding the group toward a synth-soaked finale. I absolutely adore how the cimbalom sits within Greshka's at-times cluttered compositions, anchoring the horn section to its repetitious twang and sputtering the band forward like a musical two-stroke. The instrument's timbre lends itself to pointed percussion, but closing cut Smoked Salt showcases the subtleties of Bonetti's sound with a sombre solo rumination on the album's themes. It acts almost as the hangover scene after Inebriation's manic highs, frantic energy flickering out beneath haunting impressionism.

There's more conceptual cues to be found here than an album of gypsy-folk fusion would first suggest. Andre's vocals take center stage on a few choice cuts, most notably Bumfluff Cocktail, where his goof-laden, satirical revelations dance flamboyantly atop ambitiously arranged showtunes. These moments are a welcome break to the album's flow, but scan more as elaborate musical punchlines when placed next to meatier, instrumental numbers. Thankfully, Russian vocalist Zulya Kamalova handles melodic duties on Greshka's re-imagining of Serbian folk tune Mesecina, wholeheartedly selling the disco-metal climax comprising its second half.

I can't finish up without mentioning the twenty minute titan of Gipsie Tears Pt2: Inebriation, where Andre's arrangements draw more from Zappa-esque prog and third-stream jazz than traditional folk sources. Clarinet lines cascade into a galloping march that's brimming with momentum, only to be derailed by a multi-minute nose-flute solo in the second half. From here things further devolve, disassembling the group's regal finale with a slew of samples and production tricks. It's a head-scratching monolith to be sure, reaching a level of elaborate insanity that few local artists are likely to touch.

I'm left with equal amounts of confusion and respect for Bonetti's craft, applauding his passion for funnelling far-flung folk into quirky, energetic performances that leap out of your speakers. Greshka's madcap fusion translates impeccably to the punchy, live format, but Inebriation does its best to bottle that spirit in recorded form. The record clearly contains a great deal of musical know-how, yet it's condensed into something that's sure to strike a chord with adventurous audiences Australia-wide. Is it gypsy music?, prog-folk?, jazz? I'm not sure the band themselves even know, and that's kind of the point.

- Boddhi Farmer.
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