Poland

Re-uploaded by request 4/17/2023

 

I know all you un-PC muthas out there are snickering right now. Poland, right, I get it. Wrong, you don't get it. But you're gonna get it. Right here right now. You're getting the Crisis Brigade, is what you're getting.

Brygada Kryzys or BK were an extremely influential Polish band. They have only two studio & two live releases, yet their music has touched many ears & hearts. They played a unique blend of punk/rock/reggae/new wave, well, they’re hard to classify.

 

 

The story might go something like this…Around 1979 Tomasz (Tomek) Lipiński formed the band Tilt, one of the first, if not the first punk band in Poland. In 1981 Piotr Mrowiński left the band Kryzys & was replaced by singer/guitar player Lipiński. With Lipiński joining the band, its direction drastically changed.

Kryzys was sort of a Mark Stewart's Pop Group clone, not that that's a bad thing. You all know I like MS PG, Maffia, or solo shit. Because of their new musical outlook, Kryzys founding member & composer Robert Brylewski decided to change the name of the project to Brygada Kryzys. 

They are legendary from the Polish revolutionary Solidarity period. In December 1981 the military government led by General of the Army Wojciech Jaruzelski & the Military Council of National Salvation (Wojskowa Rada Ocalenia Narodowego, WRON) usurped the government & implemented wartime powers with the issuing of their stan wojenny, or  "the state of war". The Polish government wanted the band to shorten its provocative name, Crisis Brigade, but they refused. As a result, they were banned from playing any public concerts, & were not allowed to leave the country for its planned Netherlands tour. 

 

 

About this same time, the recording company Tonpress opened a new studio in Warsaw & began looking for a band to test the facilities. They decided to give BK a chance, as they were going nowhere…literally. Several songs were recorded as part of the try-out. Tonpress decide to record & release the record.

The new band's self-titled first release produced one of the most original albums of the Nowa Fala movement. Strong dub bass lines, walls of echoed saxophone, an impressive range of guitar work (liquid delayed lines, proto-noise assaults, intricate solos), & fast rhythms that moved the band's musical direction away from the more common stop&go rhythms of more reggae influenced New Wave. The only song on their first effort with a typical reggae rhythm is "Ganja". The first side of the record is sung in Polish, the second one in English. Both sides are excellent.

Brygada Kryzys main problem was longevity. Or lack thereof. After playing in late fall 1982, the band disbanded, citing political pressures. Tomek had been severely beaten & arrested by the milicja. He was released shortly afterwards because there was not enough room in the overcrowded jails. The band was still under constant pressure by the government. BK played their first show since 1981 at Warsaw's Remont club in September 1982. Even without doing any gigs throughout the year, the album sold more than 200,000 copies. It was not enough to keep the band together, however, will all the oppression.

Robert formed a reggae band, Izrael, while Tomek returned to Tilt. A week before the Berlin Wall comes down, on the way to a Berlin concert, Tomek & Robert talk about reforming BK. In August 1991, BK reunite for their first concert in nine years for the Jarocin Festival. Then, in 1992, Lipiński & Brylewski reform Brygada Kryzys to record a second studio album (they had a second album in 1982, a live recording called Brygada Kryzys Live 1981) at the Izabelin studio. The new album is Cosmopolis. The LP features both old & new songs. After organizing shows on December 13 in 1992, 1993, & 1994 (that date was the start of martial law in Poland). After the 1994 show, the band again disbands once more.

Since that time, the band has reunited several times for shows & tours. Lipiński usually returns to play in Tilt.

Whew, even I'm comfused. Well, just listen…the music stands on its own. Just supplying a bit of history about a band playing in the fray during a tumultuous time in Polish history pre- Lech Wałęsa.

On their self-titled release, the band are: Tomasz (Tomek) Lipiński – guitar & vocals; Robert Brylewski – guitar; Irek Jeżyk Wereński – bass; Tomasz Świtalski – saxophone; Janusz Rołt – drums; & Jaroslaw Ptasińsk.

 Brygada Kryzys ‎– Brygada Kryzys, Tonpress ‎– SX-T 16, 1982. 

Strona A -

Centrala

Radioaktywny Blok

Nie Ma Nic

Przestań Śnić

Strona Z -

The Real One

Travelling Stranger

Except One

Ganja

Fallen, Fallen is Babylon

For Cosmopolis, the band are: Tomek Lipiński – guitar & vocals; Robert Brylewski – guitar; & Irek Jeżyk Wereński – bass; along with new musicians: Vivian Quarcoo (Brylewski’s wife) – vocals; both Włodek Kiniorski & Aleksander Korecki on saxophone; & Piotr Stopa Żyżelewicz – drums. 

 Brygada Kryzys – Cosmopolis, Kamiling ‎– CD09, 1992. 

(The first twelve tracks appear on the original cassette release, Kamling 018. There are seven additional tracks on the cd. I have marked those tracks as non-cassette. The order is as on the cassette, then bonus tracks last).

Tracklist –

Wojna

Żondzi Xionc

Subway Train

Ty I Tylko Ty

Too Much

Fuck

Naokoło Wieży

To Co Czujesz

What to Do to Be True

Water

Cosmopolis

Take My Hand -original cassette release

Nie Daj Się

I Need U

Age of Iron

Jazz Brigade

Take My Dub

Ten Drugi Dub

Back Train - bonus CD tracks

Enjoy

NØ