FUCC The INS – 20th Anniversary Remaster

“FUCC THE INS”

20th Anniversary Remaster

 

When singer Gino Srdjan Yevdjevich left the ravaged by war Sarajevo and settled in Seattle in the mid-90s, he hauled two things in tow- his immense vocal and songwriting talent, and his relentless ambition to create. Little did he know that after starting Kultur Shock in 1996, he would not only end up leading one of the most consequential genre bending bands of the last couple of decades, but also win credit as de-facto grandfather of a movement that people casually refer to today as gypsy punk.

“FUCC the INS” was recorded in 2001, in a small garden shed, and at that time, no one knew how to process a band like this. The band at the time was a strange collection of Balkan refugees from the wars in former Yugoslavia, a pair of Bulgarian defectors, backed by a Seattle avant-guard horn section, with a metal head bass player guy from Tokyo as the cherry on top. Mixed in Bill Gould (of Faith No More)’s basement, this obscure and underfunded– yet brilliantly conceived — album would become the core of what would define the sound of the band for the following 6 studio LPs, 1EP, and 2 live albums the band would release between 2003 and 2019. It is the album that prompted El Pais in Madrid to dub singer Gino Yevdjevich “ La Bestia” ( The Beast), and Jello Biafra to say, “Kultur Shock is what punk rock should sound like.”

2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the release of “FUCC the INS”, and both Gould and the band agreed that that’s an anniversary worth celebrating. Hence the re master of the record, to be released March 18, 2022 on Koolarrow Records. The updated production was entrusted to Oggy Kiossovski from O.K. Sound ( Sofia, Bulgaria), who knows the band and its contemporary tone in and out, having filled in as both touring soundman and occasional drummer for the band. Not only that, but the revision of original cover artwork by Oslo artist (and “FUCC” drummer) Boris Iochev brought the whole team together in a way that perfectly honors the original spirit of the project.

“Nadja” was the first song that was mixed, and the band has chosen it as a featured single from the album.

For the past 25 years, Kultur Shock has continued along a never ending path of experimentation, blending Balkan folk melodies and bizarre meters with face melting metal with a punk styled subversion. To describe Kultur Shock’s style and sound, people usually refer to Gogol Bordello, System of a Down, Dubioza Kolektive, Manu Chao, The Pogues, or Band of Four. None of that does the band a justice, because Kultur Shock’s sound and approach to music has consistently existed in a league of its own.

“FUCC the INS” MUSICIANS:

• Gino – vocals
• Boris Iochev- drums
• Masa Kobayashi- bass
• Mario Butkovich- guitar
• Val Kiossovski- guitar
• Amy Denio- saxophone
• Jessica Lurie- Saxophone
• Ambros Northness- Bariton sax and Synth on Haide Yano

RELEASE DATE MARCH 18, 2022