1980 Housekeeping
by Thom Gridley
Steam Roller (Parni Valjak)
City Kids
Genre: CroRock (Croatian Power Rock from Yugoslavia)
Allen’s Rating: 2.25out of 5
Thom’s Rating: 2.45 out of 5
Notable Tracks:
Can’t Get her Out of My Mind
700 Miles from Home
Oasis
When the Show is Done
Fast Facts:
+ Steam Roller translates to Parni Valjak in Croatian
+ Parni Valjak has 125k Monthly followers on Spotify
+ 19 Studio Albums from 1976 to 2018
+ History refresher - Croatia/Slovenia declared
independence to break up Yugoslavia in 1991
+ I had a fire engine red Yugo – Sport Package
(Will post in the comments)
Originally, I thought this was going to be a 1-off throw away Croatian Rock Album.
Boy was I wrong. It appears they only released 1 album under the name Steam Roller in the US, however, the previous and remaining albums kept the proper Croatian moniker Parni Valjak.
They were a dominant musical force in Croatia (19 albums in total) but not sure this export could pave new roads in North America or the UK.
This album, has a warm familiarness to it, but mostly in the form of knock-off or imitation vibes riffing on common US/UK rock band sounds. I can only imagine, at the time in Yugoslavia what access the youth culture had to the west,and whatever spilled over the border, I am certain was coveted, studied
and emulated. That’s sort of where this album starts and ends.
Topline sentiments reveal a vocalist/lead singer, who must have immersedhimself in a house of Rod Stuart. That raspy tone and inflection is pervasive throughout.Interestingly, two of the more favorable tracks are in ballad form that somewhat feel complimentary when compared compared to some of the heavy hitting rock songs of the times. Croatia had a strong showing in the last 2 World Cups, but unfortunatelythis dominant Zagreb ensemble couldn’t qualify outside Croatia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9LeZojFKNM&list=PLdgFk-dTMiRiE_9SKGLLdXx6vrAJTVp8R
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