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Tata Bojs

About:

The basis of the band was formed by two classmates, Milan Cais ( drums ) and Mark Huňát (or Mardoša; bass guitar ), during their studies at the elementary school in Prague Hanspaulce. Mark Padevět  complemented the band on guitar and vocals. The first concert of Tata Bojs took place at the closing party of their elementary school. After that they got a lot of live experience in the club circuit of Prague where they got picked up and were able to record a debut album in 1992. By that time all band members were still in school and graduated later that year. In 1994 they recorded four nursery rhymes set to music by Josef Lada. It was the last recording with Padevět who left the band short after to be replaced by Marek Doubravou. In 1996 the new line up appeared for the first time at the Trutnov festival.  A 32 minutes long single Jaro/Divnosti (1997) announced a new album. By 1999 the trio was expended with Klára Nemravová as a regular guest on vocals.

In 2000 they signed a deal with Warner who released ‘Futuretro’, an album that would mean their breakthrough to a broader audience. In the same year Marek Doubrava left the band. He was temporarily replaced by Maťo Mišík but found permanent replacement in Vladimírem Bárem. In the spring of 2002 Tata Bojs released ‘Biorhythms’ which would be a chart hit. The success was continued with ‘Nanoalbum’. The whole album is a concept around the Mardošově book Nanobook in which the narrator is dog-robot Hal, which explains the patterns of nanoworld and all that is happening. For the album the band received four awards: Group of the Year, Rock Album of the Year, Video of the Year and Best Sound Recording of the Year. In 2005 they released on DVD Nanotour which record their performances from T-Mobile Arena. In 2011 they release another concept like album build around the figure 8 or the infinity sign.

On the web:

- Tata Bojs' website:http://www.tatabojs.cz/

If you like this, you probably like... / european counterparts:

Biplan (Lithuania)

Wir sind Helden (Germany)

What do we think:

DB: Not burdened by the heritage of making music during the Soviet era Tata Bojs was one of the first to adapt Western Britpop influences to a Czech version of indiepop. They stuck to singing in Czech which gave them a bit of handicap because the Czech youth was very anti-domestic in the nineties. In the new millenium their fame grew however. And for the right reason because this duo/trio makes some good sounding alternative Europoprock. Although Huňát and Cais are the core duo they are open enough to adapt to any newbandmember that comes up. As a result the sound of the albums can differ somewhat.

Recommendations:

- Šagali Šagáli - 1991

- Ladovo album - 1995

- Ukončete nás  -1997

- Nekonečná stanice – 1998

♪♪♪♪ - Futuretro - 2000

- Termixes - 2001

♪♪♪ - Biorytmy - 2002

♪♪♪ - Nanoalbum - 2004

♪♪♪ - Kluci kde ste? - 2007

♪♪♪♪ - Ležatá osmička  -2011

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♪♪♪♪♪ = outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided