Timpuri Noi was formed in 1983 in Bucharest, Romania, and remained an underground act up to 1991. This was mainly due to what was perceived as "subversive lyrical content" in the Ceauşescu era. Incidentally, the name derives from a cliché of the period: its literal meaning is "New Age", used to signify Marxist Socialism. The tongue-in-cheek reference is somehow associated with the Bucharest district of the same name. The name is also the Romanian translation of Modern Times, the title for Charles Chaplin's classic 1936 film.