čuvarkuća

About

" No one can resist the power of flowers "

The eastern Croatian city of Osijek is a home of singer-songwriter Hrvoje Dešić and his fast rising band čuvarkuća, named after the small flowering plant sempervivum, commonly known as the houseleek. Before čuvarkuća, Hrvoje led noisy rock quartet Harvo Jay, the winners of the Croatian unsigned band contest Rock Off, and released a single critically acclaimed album ‘Sok od agonije’ in 2017. Four years later, he was back on indie stage alongside ex-Harvo Jay drummer Šimun Padovan and their producer Marko Pernarčić, with fresh reinforcements from Tin Ringsmuth (sax, keys) and Igor Dešić (bass). 

After their early singles ‘Uvijek umoran’ and ‘Gladiole’, it was obvious that Hrvoje Dešić tried to change his previous musical direction under the new influence of contemporary lo-fi psych pop artists. From one song to another Hrvoje has planted a distinct variety in the colourful garden of modern psychedelia. It’s a laid back sound with guitar layered on top, a smooth funky sax ready to jump out of the corner and a solid indie rock rhythm section behind them. 

All of that sat well on čuvarkuća’s debut album, entitled ‘Curino cvijeće’ (literally girl’s flowers but also an archaic local metaphor for a phallus, just like little red rooster in old Chicago blues slang). The long awaited album was released in the fall 2022 on his own small label Purpurne bašte, and welcomed with excellent reviews by critics and with a great response from the audience at numerous gigs around Croatia. A lot more live action is coming soon, as no one can resist the power of flowers.