Brkovi

Brkovi ("The Moustaches") are a Croatian band from Zagreb that mixes turbofolk with punk rock and the weight of heavy metal, a style they call "punk folk wellness". The band was formed in Zagreb in 2004 by members of several underground Zagreb bands and is still based there; it celebrated twenty years with a big concert at the Šalata stadium in Zagreb on 7 September 2024.

The name was suggested by the guitarist Prasac. Since 2007 they have played with singer Shamso69, who replaced the first singer and writes most of the lyrics; the five-piece line-up of recent years is Shamso69, Tomac, Šarac, Talentino and Torbica. The members go by nicknames rather than their real names. They name Nervozni poštar and the Ramones as their idols, and the hr.wikipedia article notes that the kind of music they play was earlier played mostly by Bosnian bands such as Vatreni poljubac and Nervozni poštar.

They put out their albums themselves, without a record label, so that they can offer them as free downloads on their website and sell the CDs at concerts. Instead of punk's usual social themes they sing the plain love lyrics of turbofolk and pop, delivered with punk's force. The studio albums run from punkfolkwellness (2009), Društvo brkatih mladića (2010) and Balkanski esperanto (2011) through Torzo Dade Topića (2016), Hormon sreće (2018) and Brkovi su da se vole (2020) to Krvava novčanica (2023) and Duga devetka (2026). On the tribute album Brkati gosti (2013) bands such as Atheist Rap, S.A.R.S., Postolar Tripper, Kiša metaka and Motus play their songs, and they have also released live recordings from Močvara, Tvornica kulture and the Dom sportova.

Their best-known songs include "Ornela", "Švaler", "Nisam ja za tebe", "Mala", "Bolje da sam s frendovima pio rujno vino", "Hoću da mi dijete sluša narodnjake", "A ja ću da pijem" and "Više ni pankeri ne slušaju punk". They have played all over Croatia and the neighbouring countries, from Mostar to Belgrade. The playlist gathers the official videos from Brkovi su da se vole.