Sake – Getaway CD (Geenger Records)

Here’s another one from the “digging through the Geenger Records crates” series. In the past couple of weeks, we introduced so many punk rock bands on our pages, so I thought this release would fit nicely on the bill. Getaway is a debut by Sake, a Croatian punk rock quintet that emanates from Pula. This particular album is also their only recording, as far as I am informed. I tried to find more information about the band, but my investigation was effortless. Nevertheless, judging by the quality of the Getaway, even this one full-length is more than enough to get a brighter picture about this powerful punk rock group. Therefore, I would like to talk about their music a bit more.

Getaway consists of twelve profoundly energetic punk rock compositions that are continuously floating between contemporary pop-punk and rock’n’roll. However, it’s important to mention that the group stacks up so many elements in between, so their music always sounds versatile, fresh, and unique. Sake is heavily inspired by seventies US punk rock, nineties pop-punk, hard rock, rock’n’roll, and dream pop. Still, you may stumble upon some similarities with alternative rock and grunge rock bands that were extremely popular during the nineties. The band solely relies upon rock’n’roll infused riffages, robust punk rock chord progressions, simplistic but effective guitar soloing, energetic rhythmic sequences, and many other ingredients that define all the good bands on the underground scene.

Perhaps Sake draws inspiration from hard rock and punk rock, but there’s even more than meets the eye. Their verses are profoundly energetic, which is primarily a quality of hard rock and punk rock bands, but wait until you hear their choruses. The choruses are leaning more towards dream-pop choir-a-like singalongs where the band shines bright on the spotlight the most. It is due to the marvelous female lead vocals that are quite a gem and one of the main qualities of this band. Sake would not sound the same without her flawless vocal performance. If you’re looking out for closer comparison, the sound of Sake resembles something that the renowned bands like X, Tilt, The Gits, Hole, Babies In Toyland, Pagan Babies, and many others would eventually record throughout their careers. Getaway is available for listening on streaming platforms such as Spotify or Bandcamp, but you can always reach out to Geenger Records and ask if they have any compact discs still available.