Kultur Shock

Kultur Shock

House Of Shock

Alternative Tentacles

WELCOME TO THE HOUSE OF SHOCK.For almost three decades, Kultur Shock has been gleefully tearing down the walls between punk, metal, Balkan music, gypsy traditions, and rock ’n’ roll. Now the Seattle-based sonic wrecking crew returns with the second part of their double album series House of Shock, another volatile collision of furious riffs, soaring melodies, Eastern European musical traditions, and the kind of musical chaos that has earned them a dedicated international cult fanbase. Led by Bosnian-born frontman Gino Yevdjevich, Kultur Shock has spent decades refusing to fit comfortably into anybody's musical filing cabinet. Their music can go from a traditional Balkan melody to a face-melting metal riff, from punk-rock fury to heartbreaking beauty, often within the same song. To describe Kultur Shock’s style and sound, people usually refer to Gogol Bordello, System of a Down. Dubioza Koletiv, Manu Chao, The Pogues, or Band of Four but none of that does the band justice, because Kultur Shock’s sound and approach to music is in a league of their own. House of Shock continues that tradition while showing a band that has never been particularly interested in standing still. The record is aggressive, theatrical, melodic, unpredictable, and unmistakably Kultur Shock.This isn't “world music.”This isn't “Balkan punk.”This isn't “fusion.”It's Kultur Shock.Following the release of House of Kultur earlier this year, House of Shock push the boundaries of Kultur Shock’s sound is. The result is the latest chapter from a band that is more than a high-voltage blend of multi-ethnic music, attitude,...

Kultur Shock

King / Country Mohammed

Alternative Tentacles

Yet another rockin’ new direction from the label that can’t stop expanding its….well,…Tentacles! Meet Kultur Shock—multinational ‘Gypsy Punk’ pioneers, led by irrepressible ball of energy and good cheer, Gino Yevdjevich.     Gino was quite the mainstream pop star in his native Bosnia (and the Balkans), when the shelling of Sarajevo began, trapping him in his family’s apartment for two years. He was finally able to flee, first to New York, then on to Seattle. Instead of reviving his pop career, Gino chose (a full plunge) to reinvent himself, reaching deeper into his heart and Balkan roots, and Kultur Shock was born! They began playing slightly electrified Traditional Folk, to a growing refugee audience, including many a dancing Serb. The fan base quickly widened to Krist Novaselic and Vic Bondi, among others, who then drew in Jello Biafra.  -  Then something happened -  A year or two later, they debuted in San Francisco to a sold-out audience at the Bottom of the Hill, packed with almost all refugees and migrants - and a much louder, heavier Kultur Shock. Lineups hail from all over Eastern Europe, Seattle, and even Japan; with a much wilder, more theatrical Gino as ringmaster of all he surveys. A more punked-out, direct version of their close friends and cousin, Gogol Bordello, Kultur Shock mixes Balkan folk melodies and bizarre meters with face-melting metal and blood-pumping punk rock in a pagan cauldron of lyrical, obnoxious, and politically irreverent music stew since 1996. The band released its first three studio...