Paraf

Paraf is a punk rock band from Rijeka, later a post-punk one, and it is counted among the pioneers of punk rock in Yugoslavia. It was formed in Rijeka, which is why it is on this site, and it is still based in the city. Its first gig was at the Belvedere in Rijeka on 31 December 1976.

The founders were Valter Kocijančić on guitar and vocals, Zdravko Čabrijan on bass and Dušan Ladavac "Pjer" on drums. Their concert at the Circolo hall in Rijeka on 22 March 1978 is described as the first documented punk concert in Croatia and Yugoslavia. In 1979 the single "Rijeka" came out, and in 1980 "Narodna pjesma" appeared on the Ljubljana compilation Novi punk val 78-80. That year the band also opened for The Ruts on their Yugoslav tour.

The debut album, A dan je tako lijepo počeo..., came out in 1980, produced by Goran Lisica "Fox" with Igor Vidmar. Because of its provocative lyrics it was officially classed as kitsch, which meant an extra tax, even after lyrics were changed and the cover replaced. Kocijančić left after it. Singer Pavica Mijatović "Vim Cola", guitarist Mladen Vičić and keyboard player Raoul Varljen joined, and the band moved towards new wave with the single "Fini dečko" (1981) and the album Izleti.

Their third album, Zastave (1984), took its name from Miroslav Krleža's novel. While it was being recorded, guitarist Robert Tičić, who had come from Termiti, died at 22, and Mladen Ilić took his place. Ladavac had also played in Let 2 before that band became Let 3.

Paraf split up in the mid-1980s but kept coming back: in 1994 at the Ri-Rock festival, in 2003, and in 2008 to promote the box set Riječki novi val. The band has been active again since 2019, released the live album Delta in 2022, and in 2025 put out its first studio album in four decades, simply called Paraf.

The playlist is that 2025 album, from "Karmine" and "Refleksija" to "Čisti".