Urbana Gerila (, trans: Urban Guerrilla) was a former Yugoslav punk rock and new wave band from Belgrade. The band is notable as the participant of the ArtistiÃÂka radna akcija project in 1981. In 1982, the band members formed an ad hoc group Berliner Strasse (Berlin Street), influenced by post-punk and krautrock, performing songs with lyrics in German.
Initially named Punkreteni (Punkmorons), the teenage band existed for less than two years during the early 1980s. Punkreteni consisted of Branko Rosià(bass), Vladimir Arsenijevià(guitar), Zoran "Cane" Kostià(vocals) and Slobodan "Loka" Neà ¡ovià(guitar). All band members were between the ages of 13 and 15. After a few weeks the band changed its name to Urbana Gerila. Neà ¡oviàsoon left to form his own group called Defektno Efektni. Featuring raw sound and drawing lyrical inspiration from, among other things, the events surrounding the activity of terrorist groups such as the Baader-Meinhof Group, Urbana Gerila had its first live performance as part of an event called Palilula Culture Olympics, in 1980, which was one of the first punk performances in Belgrade. Later, the band became a cult attraction, managing to sell out a Zagreb venue Lapidarij despite not having any recordings.
The band's two tracks, "Proces" ("The Trial") and "Bez naslova" ("Untitled") were released on the ArtistiÃÂka radna akcija (Artistic Work Action) various artists compilation in late 1981, on which Neà ¡oviÃÂ's Defekno Efektni also appeared. The band performed two more songs, "Beograd" ("Belgrade") and "Ipak bojim se rata" ("Still, I'm Afraid of the War"), written before Neà ¡oviÃÂ's departure, however, they were never released. After the compilation release, the band moved towards playing post-punk, influenced by Joy Division and Bauhaus, with the vocalist Branislav "Kebra" BabiÃÂ, which was not well received by the audience.
In 1981, the band opened for the Rijeka-based band Paraf at the SKC in Belgrade, a show prior to which Rosiàand Arsenijeviàdecided to form an ad hoc band Berliner Strasse with the idea of various vocalists singing in different languages, but for the concert keeping only Petar "ÃÂirilo" Iliàwho could speak and sing in German, afterward becoming a full-time member. Berliner Strasse, influenced by the British post-punk and gothic rock scene and the German krautrock scene, performed songs with lyrics in German but later on in Serbo-Croatian as well. They were later joined by Milan Ivanus on violin and Neà ¡oviàwhose Defekno Efektni disbanded, which was also the case with Urbana Gerila.
In February 1983, the song "1923" appeared on sixth place of the first Ventilator 202 demo top 10 list, but the song recording had never been released. During the same year, as Berlinen Strasse, with the song "Maske" ("Masks"), the band appeared on the various artists compilation Ventilator 202 demo top 10. The band also appeared in the movie Neà ¡to izmeÃÂu (Something in Between) in which Iliàplayed the drummer of the band, performing the unreleased song "Achtung America". After Branko Rosiàleft the serve the Yugoslav People's Army, the line up had changed, featuring various members including Marina Vulià(bass) from ElektriÃÂni Orgazam, and Slobodan Staniàand Ljubodrag Bubalo on synthesizers from the band Beograd. Berliner Strasse performed until 1984 when they disbanded.
Urbana Gerila core consisted of Branko RosiÃÂ, later to become journalist, and Vladimir ArsenijeviÃÂ, later to become award-winning and internationally acclaimed writer-novelist as well as co-founder and editor of the publishing house Rende. He is also the founder of the Krokodil Literary Festival.
After leaving Urbana Gerila, Zoran KostiÃÂ joined RadniÃÂka Kontrola, another band featured on the ArtistiÃÂka radna akcija compilation. In 1982, he became a frontman of the highly popular garage rock band Partibrejkers.
Urbana Gerila various lineups included Uroà ¡ ÃÂuriÃÂ, later painter and occasional actor, Slobodan "Loka" Neà ¡oviÃÂ, later founder of Automatik Records company, Branislav "Kebra" BabiÃÂ, later frontman of Obojeni Program, Nenad "Kele" Krasavac, later the founding member of Disciplina KiÃÂme, and Dragoslav "Draà ¾a" RadojkoviÃÂ, later member of Laibach and Kazimirov Kazneni Korpus.
In 1998, the various artists compilation Ventilator 202 vol. 1, featuring the Berliner Strasse song "Maske", appeared on the 100th place on the 100 greatest Yugoslav popular music albums list, released in the book ' (YU 100: The Best albums of Yugoslav pop and rock music).
The Berliner Strasse unreleased song "Achtung Amerika" from the Neà ¡to izmeÃÂu soundtrack, was covered by the Nià ¡ electronic music group Margita Je Mrtva.
As Urbana Gerila
As Berliner Strasse