Everyone who knows me is aware of two things when it comes to music: I like to shove music down people’s throats (especially new, weird stuff that only I and three other weirdos have heard of), and that I’ve been a bit of a pessimist for the past six months or so.
Well, what I’ve been doing since last year, maybe even longer, is nagging my friends, colleagues, buddies, and other random people about Getchoo and Asincron.
Getchoo are my favorite band on the local scene because they’re bringing a fresh vibe, and the music sounds like what you’d hear abroad right here in our small underground scene. In Asincron I see the same raw anger I had at sixteen, the kind I never let out.
With that in mind, I went to the launch of Asincron’s new EP at Control on the 5th of November. Their new EP, somn/cer variabil, has three tracks, and one of them, grădina cișmigiu, has been on constant repeat for me since day one. Why do I have it on repeat? Maybe I relate to it too much, maybe I just love the conclusion at the end, maybe the instrumental and vocals are exactly what they need to be or maybe it’s all of that at once.
Since I have a soft spot for bands like this, I gathered a bunch of friends and we all went to the show at Control. (As we also had photographers in our group, you can also check out plenty of cool photos from the concert on our Instagram.)
This concert also marked the relaunch of the Stray Lights platform, a Romanian independent music collective featuring 24 bands, first formed in 2019 and revived in 2025. But this is something we’ll be talking more about with you very soon. What’s certain is that these people are serious about what they do, and they genuinely want to help underground bands get noticed as fast as possible.
What always pleasantly surprises me at concerts on the “local scene” is that it’s always the same young faces and by now, we all know the unspoken rule. The old-timers stay in the back because the sound is better there and they can’t be bothered to squeeze through the crowd anymore. In the middle are the indecisive ones who can’t decide whether they want to be up front or hang back, then comes the mosh pit zone, and right at the front are the young ones who never seem to get enough of those long, loud guitar riffs.
Photo by iuliavaleriaphoto
As usual, I wandered around the whole place trying to get a feel for what was happening, how it sounded, how it felt. By the end of the concert, I found myself in the back with the old-timers and I loved it even more because the new Control has this small raised platform at the back. That way, I can actually see what’s happening on stage without having to fight anyone for a front-row spot.
The first ones thrown to the crowd like gladiators to the lions in ancient Rome were the kids from Coridor Apt. Yep, that’s really their name. I wasn’t kidding when I said that seeing them reminded me I had to pay my building fees. I literally paid my electricity and internet bills right after their set. It’s a super cool project and totally my kind of thing. The kind of band about which a friend of mine would say, “You get excited even when you hear two pieces of metal clanging together.” Well, that’s me, guilty as charged. These guys gave me a bit of toe, a bit of Totorro, and a hint of Placebo vibes,which is definitely not a bad thing. I’m genuinely happy that we finally have something like this in Romania, and that they actually seem excited to play not just one of those bands that drop a few songs and then disappear.
Photo by iuliavaleriaphoto
Coridor, Apt. released an EP this year called Interior..I personally call it Interioare (like Alexandru Andrieș’s album, couldn’t help it). Back to their concert, everyone standing in front of the stage looked like a building manager who shows up to check your water meter exactly on the day written on the notice board.: attentive, alert, and curious about every move the guys made on stage.
What’s even cooler about these young musicians is that each of them is involved in multiple music projects, or they’re just deeply rooted in this whole scene: concerts, music, art. You’ll either see them again on stage, filming in the crowd, or simply making their way through the audience. These kids have their own special charm: a band with a tongue-in-cheek name, songs titled just as playfully, but with the essence that truly matters: the music itself, and it’s really damn good.
After everyone had metaphorically paid their rent for the night and solved their math problems even if math still scares them, it was time for Getchoo to take the stage.
I’ve been following this band for a period of time now, and they’re constantly in my headphones, because it honestly makes me so happy that we have genuinely good music coming out of Romania with cool influences and a sound that can stand next to the international acts I love. Their debut album, Will, was one of my favorite releases of 2024, another record I kept pestering my friends about. It is also an album I usually recommend when someone asks me for an underground Romanian band that’s worth paying attention to.
The guys got on stage, some of them had already been up there earlier with Coridor, Apt. and the crowd started moving. This time I found myself closer to the stage, right behind a group of girls who were screaming and dancing their hearts out. I was super curious to see the new bassist, Tudi, whom I’d only seen once before at the Străzi Deschise concert in a totally different context and setup. And since I was so focused on hearing him, of course all the gods and all my recent negativity decided to conspire against him, and the bass was barely audible for the first two, maybe three songs. But when it finally kicked in it sounded great.There was a bit of a long pause while Victor and Bucur tried to fill the space as Tudi sorted out his bass. I honestly expected Victor to stop at some point and crack a weird joke about whatever the audience was doing, but they kept going, and after a few minutes, which, thankfully, didn’t feel like forever, the bass came back, and everyone was once again stomping their feet, nodding their heads, and shouting the lyrics.
Photo by catography.arw
At one point, a friend I was with tapped me on the shoulder and whispered in my ear, “This guy is such a little Steven Wilson!” And, of course, I spent the rest of the concert hunting for similarities with the Porcupine Tree frontman. And I did spot a few. But, if you ask me, there’s also a touch of Placebo in there.
Getchoo feels like the full package sure, they could polish their crowd interaction a bit, but otherwise, they’re clearly on a strong upward path. Their material sounds great both live and recorded, they’ve got a consistent social media presence, and they really seem there when you need them. They wrapped up their set alongside Sara from Asincron, a collaboration that felt fresh and genuinely exciting.
Then came the night’s most anticipated act, Asincron. I have to admit, I tried to move closer to the stage, but I just couldn’t make it. So I ended up somewhere halfway through the crowd, trying to catch glimpses of the stage between all the people taller than me which, honestly, was pretty much everyone.
Photo by catography.arw
I’m so proud of these kids. I first saw them play at Filaret, and seeing how quickly they’ve grown now, performing again at Control, and doing it with real confidence, makes me ridiculously happy. After all, when you say Control, you’re talking about a venue with history, one that’s hosted some of the biggest Romanian and international bands. I kept thinking how the same kids I once saw sitting on the stairs at Filaret or playing right in front of me in that small space had now made it here. The same goes for Getchoo. That’s exactly why we need DIY spaces to give people the courage to keep going. Especially when you’re just starting out and places like Expirat, Quantic, or Control, won’t give you a chance yet. Not necessarily because you’re insignificant, but because they’re still businesses trying to survive in an oversaturated scene filled with mid-tier shows at Sala Palatului featuring Ștefan Bănică or Horia Brenciu.
Everyone was moving from their toes to their heads, nodding and bouncing to the music. People were smiling, enjoying the sound, while others frowned, clearly trying to make sense of what they were hearing. I was waiting for the song I knew would start the chaos. When they began playing Ema, I dropped my hipster tote bag from Alt & Neu to a friend and ran straight into the mosh pit. I threw elbows and kicked around to that song, spinning with a bunch of young people who looked like it was their last night on Earth, all of us having the time of our lives.
When the song ended, I clapped, screamed, grabbed my stuff, and ended the concert up on that little platform by the front-of-house, listening to the closing notes of grădina cișmigiu.
I love how honest and natural that monologue is and isn’t that what it’s all about, in the end? Or maybe it’s not about anything at all, and this whole music journalism thing doesn’t really matter, as some so-called experts would say.
In the end, maybe that’s all that really matters: showing up, listening, feeling something, and watching these young bands grow into themselves. If that’s not worth writing about, I don’t know what is.
Review by Ionela Pleșan
Photos by Iulia Valeria & Cătălina Kiru
Rock Monsters Romania 
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