We don’t feature Polish artists on our blog that often. It is something that I am trying to change, mostly because when we do the articles are being read by a lot of people, widely shared on social media and discussed. What`s not to like if you are a music journalist, right? If you follow Indieterria, you may be vaguely familiar with Japanese/Polish psychedelic band AcidSitter. We have profiled their incredible album in January 2024. Today, I want to introduce our readers to a side project of Rafał Klima, who is a guitarist and main vocalist of AcidSitter, aptly named NEAL.
Album’s cover by Tomasz Gotfryd
Official bio: NEAL (Rafał Klima) is a self-described indie folk singer-songwriter from outer space currently based in Krakow, Poland. He is known to the wider public as a member of psych-rock bands Neal Cassady and AcidSitter. Now he reveals his vulnerable side, inviting you on a raw, acoustic journey following the path of Elliott Smith, Kevin Morby and Phoebe Bridgers. His songs are drowned in the 90’s vibes and aesthetics. He is the brother of Karolina Kidoń of power vocal trio Kropki3.
As one would expect from a sex tape, the debut offering from NEAL is very intimate, stripped down with an eye-catching title. But don’t expect any hentai action here! “Sex Tapes” is a deeply personal record, with a slight political taste, capturing dread, anxiety and emotions bared in front of the entire world. It is also an album that I regard in completely opposite ways from author`s intention, a rare occurrence. I will explain, but a bit later.
I happen to have a physical version of “Sex Tapes” for this review, including a personalized letter to the listener, written in Polish and giving more background to the ten songs on the album. The record has been composed during the pandemic (2020) and full-scale invasion of Ukraine (2022). English readers may not fully grasp the horror of Russian aggression but for Polish people that was not just tragic but world shattering. Our neighbour was attacked, war came back to Eastern and Central Europe for the first time since WWII. Our country had to take millions of refugees in, organize weapons and air transports, to this day we are the biggest hub for assistance to Ukraine and we will remain so. Thousands of Poles have Ukrainian ancestry, my and Rita`s family included. Two years on, we still have no information about our uncles and aunties and our cousins. Because of that I get NEAL`s album on a cellular level!
Neal had found an audience in a blink of an eye. In 2023, Rafał played over twenty gigs in Poland, Czech Republic and Germany, without any official release or label. He supported Steve Gunn (Kurt Vile band/The Violators). His concert launched two critically acclaimed music festivals in Poland: Tak Brzmi Miasto (The Sound of the City, think Rockaway Beach in the UK) and Great September (something akin to The Great Escape).
Another great addition to the album is a set of stickers designed to accompany the music itself – bathroom robes, wine corks and the VHS tapes. Rafał Klima considers his material to be so intimate, that it should not leave the bedroom. If you haven`t heard a note of the album yet, you are excused to think this is an allegory to popular expression “Netflix and chill”. Maybe that was the idea, to play on the words as intimate often equates something pleasurable and relaxing. But I don’t recommend pouring yourself a glass of rose and changing to lounge wear when listening to “Sex Tapes”. I mean you can, but it may not be the experience you`d expect.
Smoking (hot) Neal by Tomasz Gotfryd
There is a particular anecdote, a true classic in the Dabrowicz family, about judging music by the cover. In 1995 our family went to a holiday camp at the seaside. We had to travel on a coach (pretty much like this one), our driver seeing we had a boom box (exactly like this one!) with us asked us to play some music for the rest of the journey (like 8 hours between Silesia and Baltic Sea). We have warned the driver the only cassette inside our radio was Nirvana’s “Unplugged” to which he glanced at the cover and cheerfully proclaimed: “this will do”. For the next 480 minutes the entire bus load of people had to listen to Kurt`s mournful singing. I`m still surprised I wasn`t left somewhere on the side of the road in the middle of Polish countryside for this stunt but this is what you may get if you take record sleeves for indicators of what the music will be like.
I hope Rafał Klima will forgive me but to me “Sex Tapes” is like a daughter album to Nirvana`s “Unplugged in New York”. It tackles an incredible number of serious topics in a semi acoustic manner. Maybe the best is to quote Rafał`s description here: “There are songs on this album that speak about not belonging, of fear of death and struggling with grief. Of being ACoA (or Adult Child of Alcoholics). Songs that speak how stupid it feels to be sad in beautiful places and that we do not tolerate faults in people because they remind us of ourselves. There are songs about love so strong it can only be described as conjoined. That when we are in the deepest hole, we may be lucky enough to find somebody who will dig us up and such a person can make us feel as uncomfortable as a stone in a shoe.”
Definitely, not the music for lounge wear and a chill as you can see. But if you love Seattle music, queer and wonderful releases that went though Loosegrove Records, cinematic scores of David Lynch movies – then “Sex Tapes” is the best material you can get since last solo record of Mark Lanegan. Put it on and time`s stopped or rewound back to the mid 1990s. It`s like a time capsule.
“Stone in My Shoe” feels like Meat Puppets fronted by Evan Dando. “Siamese Love” has charm of Smashing Pumpkins and lyricism of Three Fish or even TAD if they ever went acoustic, “That Little Light” is almost like a mish mash of Blinker the Star and some quieter songs from Soul Asylum. “We`ll Always Be Late” is almost like Andrew Wood solo stuff. Damn it, it could even be a deep cut from Malfunkshun or even off Devilhead’s “Your Ice Cream’s Dirty” album.
Rafał Klima places himself somewhere between Mark Olson, Mark Lanegan, Willard Grant Conspiracy and Father John Misty. Or maybe Shawn Smith and Damien Jurado to be closer to Seattle. His voice is croaky, harsh and rough but also melodic, uplifting and sometimes even sarcastic. It demands focus and attention. It keeps you on your toes. It is a dark album, but there are so many shades of gloom here it`s nothing short of astonishing. It is indeed beautiful.
It is a post grunge acoustic album. I know that NEAL cites Elliott Smith, Kevin Morby and Phoebe Bridgers as inspirations but I just don’t see them here. It is slightly psychedelic at times in the same way King Tuff or Ty Segall can be, with a pinch of Syd Barrett for a good taste, but that’s it.
Even the phenomenal photography by Tomasz Gotfryd looks like a reference to Mark Lanegan’s “Winding Sheet”, with its crimson hues and close up shots. Mr Klima, I realize reviewers should not question the artists (after all we don’t write the music) but I will arm wrestle anyone, including yourself, that “Sex Tapes” is a grunge album. Had it been released in 1995 you`d find yourself opening for Golden Smoke or The Jayhawks. And potentially on a very long tour to support it. I don`t know if it is by design or accident, but you have created one of the best albums of the 1990s that I have heard in my life, that wasn’t created in the 1990. It is a peculiar paradox, worth of David Lynch movie, unless you are a time traveller. I am honestly impressed. I thought AcidSitter is amazing (and they are) but they have a huge competition now from NEAL.
NEAL may be a solo project of Rafał Klima, but “Sex Tapes” fees very much like a full band release. And it includes Marcin Gągola on bass, Kasia Bobik(Jarzmo) and Rafał “Rory” Zajac (Sour Noir) on drums, Natalia Orkisz (Box Anima) on cello and Michał Dymny (Neal Cassady, Sour Noir)on organs. It was mixed and recorded at Taktik Studios by Marcin Gągola and mastered by Paweł Bartnik at Heavy Weight Pro Studios.
“Sex Tapes” was released in October 2024 on Tematy – a Polish independent record label.
You can follow the band on the socials:
https://www.facebook.com/NEALtapes
https://www.instagram.com/nealtapes
https://x.com/NEALtapes
https://www.tiktok.com/@nealtapes
www.youtube.com/@NEALtapes
https://nealtapes.bandcamp.com
https://open.spotify.com/artist/2H7CTkcqMGNLW1i9bk6CHZ
Additional reading:
https://portalwinylowy.pl/wywiady/neal
https://muzobar.com/neal-sex-tapes-2024-wytwornia-tematy
Malicia Dabrowicz
Indieterria 