Turkish trio Lalalar play Nova Zappa Barka in Belgrade on December 19, doors at 8pm. The Istanbul outfit that Iggy Pop described as one of the most innovative alternative acts in Turkey arrives with a sound that has no real counterpart on the regional scene.

Lalalar are Ali Guclu Simsek, Barlas Tan Ozemek and Alican Tepecik, and the band formed in 2018. The name comes from the Ottoman word "lala", which meant a wise man and was used for the tutors of sultans - more irony than homage once you hear what they actually play. The music is a mix of Anatolian funk, spaghetti-western psychedelia, samples and hazy electronics, delivered with a force that makes it club music rather than museum music.

The debut album "Bi Cinnete Bakar" came out in 2022 and opened the road from the Istanbul underground to European stages. The second, "En Kotu Iyi Olur" from 2023, pushed the sound even closer to the dancefloor without abandoning the Anatolian core it leans on. Unlike plenty of bands that use local tradition as decoration, with Lalalar it is the foundation everything is built on, and the electronics come in from above.

They draw their inspiration from what they see around them in Istanbul, from the very top of the city to the very bottom, and that is what keeps the material rough. Their live shows are the main reason they have landed on some of the bigger European stages in under eight years since forming.

Tickets via tickets.rs start at 2,800 dinars, roughly 1,470 denars. Saturday night on a boat on the Sava, with a band singing in Turkish to a crowd that will not understand a single word. That is usually exactly when it works best, because all that is left is the rhythm.