Rotofobia – Global Music Project (Poland)

Rotofobia is a three piece electronic-garage-rock group from Warsaw, Poland. They have a dark and dirty sound that is effortlessly hip, and yet is still enjoyable without seeming like you’re trying to impress everyone by having an exotic taste in music. The group is currently unsigned, tours extensively around Poland, and appears to have self-released one album so far. They also seem to have garnered quite a bit of press for themselves.

As far as the make up of their sound goes, the guitars lean heavily toward a droning and drugged out sound with high lead lines coated with delay. Arkus, the drummer, keeps the beats a little dancy which lightens the mood quite a bit from what would otherwise be an overly depressing sound. However, one of the things that really completes the Rotofobia sound is that most of the bass lines are played on a gnarling synthesizer. This, more than any other aspect of their instrumentation, fills out any empty space in their sound and makes them simultaneously contemporary and incredibly unique.

One criticism I will make however, is that none of their songs are really catchy. This of course could be a result of me not speaking Polish, but the vocal melodies are a bit too monotone at times which while fitting their artsy vibe and being interesting at first, could grow tiresome after repeated listening. Despite this, they do have some interesting songs, good energy, and I think that their sound and tendency to experiment are what I really like about Rotofobia.

Here are some links: Myspace / Official Site

Here is a live version of the first song I heard by them called “Nite.” I have to say though, the studio version is a little better. Some of the avard garde noise parts in this song really reminded me of John Frusciante’s “Niandra La Des” record.