The Romanian post-punk scene is coming back to life and, somehow, being rediscovered after many years of numbness. Lately, it has managed to throw into the world a series of compositions, entire albums, even, that deserve to be taken seriously on the international stage. We are talking, therefore, about young artists trying to find their identity at the breast of this genre, or bands that already made history in Romania’s underground scene and have returned, in one way or another, to the foreground of this landscape that seems to be lighting up again inside the darkness.

The order in which these songs are placed here is purely random. I’m not trying to build a ranking, only a list meant to draw attention toward a few tracks that, in my opinion, deserved more than what they received.

Partizan – ‘Călăreţul oţelit’

Although it was difficult for me to choose, I consider this track, ‘Călăreţul oţelit,’ to be the most representative of the genre. Still, the entire album it comes from is a phenomenon in itself. “Nori Peste Sălăjean” is a legacy that will remain for eternity in Romania’s musical history. Partizan has always carried weight in the Romanian underground, especially through its representative figures, Artan and Suedezu. Artan, the band’s vocalist, passed away recently, almost as if he wanted to leave behind this masterpiece of an album as his final trace.

Returning to ‘Călăreţul oţelit,’ I think that alongside ‘An Englishman in Sălăjan,’ these are two post-punk anthems you can push forward with and smash every possible algorithm.

SHE – ‘Cemetery of Broken Hearts’

Corina Sucarov, aka SHE, is an extremely versatile artist, leaving marks both on the catwalk as a model and on the musical front, especially when she comes with sonic proposals like this single, ‘Cemetery of Broken Hearts.’ The track is part of an upcoming album that still seems to be in the works, but one that I’m waiting for with real interest, especially since this first extract awakened the darkest cravings in my eardrums.

I’ve been following Corina’s activity in this musical sphere for a while, and I believe she has now reached a creative maturity that deserves far more attention. SHE is a project that developed gradually, but with this new single and forthcoming album, it feels like it has everything needed to break barriers.

As direct and dark, almost oppressive, as the message of ‘Cemetery of Broken Hearts’ is, just as enchanting is that call to dance in the chorus, a passage that, in fact, stays deeply imprinted in your memory.

Arc Gotic – ‘Follow a Stranger’

Arc Gotic are a monument of the post-punk genre in Romania, approaching this style back in the years when we barely knew what freedom even smelled like, let alone such sonic perfumes made from a rare species of black roses and scattered through the air by the trembling wings of those famous bats wearing top hats and carrying skull-headed canes. Is that too much metaphor? That only means you haven’t listened to Arc Gotic as much as you should have, in the necessary doses, from those small bottles filled with strong essences and lost memories.

After a break in which nothing could be seen on the horizon from the Timișoara band, Arc Gotic returned in the manner of a great band. First with this single, ‘Follow a Stranger,’ which is a true post-punk hit, and then with ‘This Midnight Train.’ Both compositions deserve to be framed, but I think ‘Follow a Stranger’ has that something, that state, emotion, vibration, I don’t know what to call it, that places the track in another sphere.

Machedon – ‘Mi-am pierdut inima pe undeva’

For me, Machedon is an even bigger surprise for the Romanian post-punk scene than Bodo/Glimt in the Champions League. Appearing almost out of nowhere, the artist carries a super fresh air, trying to compose inside a kind of creative cocoon from which he watches contemplatively, a place where no one can disturb him, and from there, from this world you know almost nothing about, he manages to throw into this universe, as complex as it is dusty, of the underground scene, such wonders as ‘Mi-am pierdut inima pe undeva.’

We know that melancholy, in its essence, is not triggered by complicated metaphysics but, on the contrary, by the simplest experiences. Well, this simplicity is exactly what Machedon leans into in this song. A simplicity that presses, that washes you through all the waters of memory, that stops regret in your throat like a knot tied in a hurry in the shoelaces of your sneakers when your friends are yelling for you to come outside.

‘Mi-am pierdut inima pe undeva’ carries a strong Balkan air, which gives it a special charm, a post-punk romance (romanță) to listen to with the lace doily lifted off your soul.

Andrei Rublev – ‘Cadavre’

Andrei Rublev is another young artist who turned my (low) faith in the Romanian underground upside down, a classmate of Machedon, I’d say, and here I mean in terms of quality, not scholastic, although I think both versions would be correct, who releases a post-punk hit soaked in melancholy, namely ‘Cadavre.’ Andrei seems like a guy who did his homework well, and I’m not saying that necessarily because the lyrics come from Bacovia, but because he seems to know what this genre is made of these days, this so Delikat (note: Delikat is a universal spice in Romania, like Vegeta, which also means delicate) thing that, give it just a little push, and it can end up thrown into every sonic dish.

So, to refer to this last song: what you thought was beginning to smell like a corpse, namely, the Romanian underground, seems to be reborn and place on the table a series of artists and tracks that I believe should break all charts and algorithms.







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