Red Star Belgrade "Telescope" 2000***

Red Star Belgrade was formed on 4 March 1945 by the "United alliance of anti-fascist Youth", a satellite organisation of the Yugoslavian Communist Party which had been the backbone of Tito's partisan army and which had just emerged victorious from WWII. It was soon taken under the wing of the country's Ministry of Interior and established as one of the most successful Balkan clubs ever, even winning the European football Cup in 1991. They branched out in many different sports, but until recently I didn't know they also had a music department. What confuses me is that they chose to base their band in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Could it be part of a communist plot to corrode the “land of the free and the home of the brave” from the inside? Are singer/songwriter Bill Curry and his wife Graham Harris a couple of sleeper agents like The Americans' Philip and Elizabeth Jennings? They could hardly have found a better cover than that of an all-American alt-country musicians couple. But let's afford them the benefit of a doubt and suppose they're legit. One might then say that by the time they released their third album "Telescope", they had reached songwriting maturity but hadn't quite settled on their sound yet. Opener "Telescope" reminds me of 80's paisley underground band Green On Red. Other rockers in the same vein (think of a hybrid between Big Sleep, Velvet Underground and Gram Parsons) include "No Pound", "Count Me Out", "Uncle Tupelo" - the latter namechecking the alt.country pioneers who seem to have influenced RSB. "Dreaming 'Bout You" and "The Bottle" are Byrds-y folk rock, and "Long Cold Day" a sad piano ballad. "Nixon Stamp" has the trademark country pedal steel sound, while "Strum 'N Rhyme" and "Highway To Hell" (yes, the AC/DC hard rock anthem, unrecognizable in this form) offer more upbeat country. Two of the best songs touch on, uncharacteristically for American bands, international politics: The disillusionment in the state of post-revolutionary Iran in the beautiful ballad "After The Revolution", and the drama of Kossovar refugees in the bluesy "The Border" - another unexpected Balkan reference, after the band name. On a whole "Telescope" is quite varied and eclectic,which is both its strength and weakness, as it can feel a bit disjointed at times. Fans of Wilco, Giant Sand and Ryan Adams should definitely check this album out...**** for After The Revolution, The Border *** for Telescope, Dreaming 'Bout You, Strum 'N Rhyme, Highway To Hell, Nixon Stamp, No Pound ** for The Bottle, Count Me Out, Long Cold Day