Avaz by Replikas

Avaz is the third album by the Turkish band Replikas. Spending a lot of their early career in dingy backstreet venues of Istanbul, Replikas - “great Beyoglu hopes” (the Wire, UK) – have never taken much notice of the mainstream making so much noise around them or tried to make themselves easy to classify. In a country where stand-out musical uniqueness is not exactly a feature of the pop and band scene, they are a just that – unique. Taking inspiration from Avant- and Kraut-Rock, and adding Turkish elements - not in a contrived way, but just as living in Turkey you naturally add spice to food, it’s what you do – their new album Avaz has a new bounce and, compared with their previous two post-punk/noise albums, a return-to-roots feel. Perhaps this is best seen in the raw reworking of Ömür Sayacı, a song which appears on their previous album [Dadaruhi]. Producer Wharton Tiers (Sonic Youth, Glenn Branca, Dinosaur JR and White Zombie) has taken their material born in those crowded cellar bars and helped shape and guide their back-to-basics direction: guitars sound like guitars, electronics gain personality, and vocals are perfectly placed in a design where carefully constructed sound allows for wide open musical spaces. Cult, alternative, underground, Avaz presents a myriad of new sounds which will be enjoyed not only by fans, but by a wider audience ready to seek out the cutting-edge creative voices of Istanbul.