Atheist Rap is a Serbian punk rock band from Novi Sad, formed in 1989, which has released six studio albums, one compilation album and one live DVD. Their music is often characterized as "fun punk" due to its cheerful music and vocals. Their lyrics are usually critical of society and politics and are often humorous accounts of everyday events.
History
1980s
The idea of forming Atheist Rap came to vocalists Aleksandar Popov (also known as Dr. Pop) and Vladimir Kozbašić (also known as Pećinko) at the Rambo Amadeus concert, which took place on 29 November 1988, at the local club Mašinac. They merged with members of Fluorel Tatchkash, Vladimir Radusinović (also known as Radule) on guitar and Zoran Zarić (also known as Zare) on bass, and Stevan Gojkov (also knowns as Goja) (from Kapetan Leshi, Fear Of Dog, A Better Life Zine) took hold of the drums. The first live appearance was just a few days after the band was officially formed, at the Petrovaradin Fortress gate called Beogradska kapija on 22 May 1989, with several local acts. Before the appearance,with the repertoire consisting of two songs, the whole band wrote the song "O.R.A.", which was performed by Popov on vocals, Kozbašić on backing vocals, with the band improvising to the lyrics. The performance provided the band a cult status, despite not having any recordings released. The band also got invitations to perform at several Novi Sad clubs, while writing new material. At the time, the band had rehearsals and partially lived at the Žuta Kuća in Novi Sad, until it was bulldozed by the local authorities.
1990s
In January 1990, the band performed at the alternative music festival called Bolje uživo nego u mrtvo (Better Live Than Dead), and made first recordings in June 1990, but the beginning of the Yugoslav wars at the beginning of the 1990s stopped the band from releasing the first CD release in the region. It was a four-song EP, recorded at the Barba studio in Bukovac, entitled Compact Disc, consisting of the songs "Gusti sok", "Stomak eliminator", "Novosadski vašar" and "Gril 13", that Croatian label Jugoton never put out of press, and, as a result, the material was never released in this format. One of the songs from the EP, "Gusti sok", appeared on the various artists compilation Novi Sad Vol. 2. The EP was also to be released by the Novi Sad record label Start Today Records. Despite the EP not being released, the band promoted the recordings through radio and television broadcasts, which increased their popularity. At the end of 1990, Flourel Tatchkash and Elba drummer Aleksandar Milanov "Atzke" joined the group with Gojkov switching to guitar, and the new lineup had the first live appearance at the KUD Sonja Marinković.
It was at the insisting of Tetcha Morales (manager, guitar) and Voja Žugić (Scorned Records, Three Pals Zine) that the band recorded their debut album Maori i Crni Gonzales (Māori and Black Gonzales), recorded at the Do-Re-Mi Studio in Novi Sad by the end of 1992, and released it in 1993. Despite the humorous lyrics of the songs "Ljubav", featuring the sampled speech of Josip Broz Tito, "Wartburg limuzina", "Blu Trabant" and "Plitka poezija", named after the first Pekinška patka album, and a mixture of cover versions by Pekinška Patka), the album had low official but pretty high pirate release sale. However, the band received the Album of the Year Award at the Brzi Bendovi Srbije festival. The band also occasionally performed under pseudonymous names Božidara Starog Park and Električni Jurica. "Wartburg limuzina" and "Blu Trabant" became hits in Serbia and Republic of Macedonia. The latter appeared on the American compilation Delite the Elite, featuring bands from the USA and Europe (MDC, Negu Gorriak, Credit to the Nation and Chumbawamba, Clawfinger...). Maori i Crni Gonzales was re-released by Take It Or Leave It Records in 1994, and again in 1996 by the same record label, featuring four bonus tracks from the never released EP Compact Disc. The album also featured live versions of "Ljubav", "ORA je pravi način da..." (YWA Is the Real Way To...") and "Ritam". Despite the political and economic situation in the country, the band presented the release at live performances in major cities and all around Serbia.