Щурците ‎– Щурците / Shtourtsite (1976, LP, Bulgaria)

Tracklist:

A1 На Прага / On The Threshold - 5:19
A2 Говори Се За Нещо / We're Gonna Have A Good Time - 3:34
A3 Сянка На Птица / A Shadow Of A Bird - 4:06
A4 Дай Ми Малко Нежност / Give Me A Little Tenderness - 3:18
A5 Обич / Fondness - 4:32
B1 А Утре / And Tomorrow - 4:19
B2 Далечен Залив / A Distant Bay - 4:45
B3 Моят Син / My Son - 2:56
B4 Вишнев Цвят / Cherry Blossom - 4:01
B5 Дяволски Сезон / Devilish Season - 4:04

Musicians:
Bass Guitar, Leader, Vocals – Kiril Marichkov
Drums – Georgi Markov
Guitar, Vocals – Peter Gyuzelev
Piano, Organ, Violin, Synthesizer, Vocals – Borislav Panov 

 

 

For Rock fans worldwide this might be a mystery name, however for the Bulgarian Rock audience Shtourtsite were a legendary group, found in the capital of the country Sofia in 1967 by Kiril Marichkov (bass, vocals), Petar Gyuzelev (guitar, vocals), Peter Tsankov (drums, vocals) and Veselin Kisjov (guitar, vocals).A regular entry in the catalog of the Balkanton label for years, Shtourtsite managed to release several hit singles and EP's, moving slowly from a Beat style to a Heavy/Psychedelic Rock through the years.However it wasn't until 1976 and after some line-up changes, when they released their first eponymous full-length album.Marichkov and Gyezelev were surrounded by keyboardist/singer Borislav Panov and drummer Georgi Markov around the time.

While they were having definitely a rockier mood than during their early days, Shtourtsite always supported their sound with plenty of 60's-inspired melodies and multi-vocal parts.Their style was quite demanding at moments, however the tracks in their debut all come in the accesible forms of song-structured compositions with typical rock instrumentation.Today ''Shtourtsite'' sounds outdated, based on harmonic singing lines and psychedelic guitars with a poppy edge.It is the presence of Panov though that gives birth to some nice keyboard parts, not far from the sounds of their compatriots FSB, although the later had a more Prog-inspired approach overall.A couple of tracks sounds like GENTLE GIANT during their farewell days, containing nice use of clavinet and organs, somewhat mixing the Prog/Art Rock aesthetics with funky vibes.The most prominent instrument though is the Moog synthesizer of Panov, offering lots of careful breaks and solos, while the man even plays the violin in ''A distant bay'', adding some sort of Jazz influence to the whole listening.It is rather a pitty that the group never escaped the rules of easy-going music, because the limited instrumental passages in this work show some potential for even greater and more atmospheric music textures.

A minor entry in the Prog catalogs, ''Shtourtsite'' won't ever be among the dedicated Prog fan's priorities due to its limited musically intricate content.However collectors of worldwide Rock and Prog albums could give this one a shot, part of the music holds some intertest and nice talent.
LP on the dinosaur Bulgarian label Balkanton, there are at least two issues with different covers, but same cat. No. (apps79)