By Monk
Now and again, if rarely, an album comes along that perfectly and succinctly sums up the state of the world, and the circumstances, in which we find ourselves, that captures that rapturous moment in time and hits the nail equally precisely hits the nail of those circumstances firmly and squarely on the head. Even more rarely comes along a band that do just that which each and every album. Gogol Bordello are one of a handful of such artists, as they yet again have proven with this, their eighth album and their first in five years.
To put things into context, it is perhaps worth remembering that band founder, frontman and chief lyricist Eugene Hutz is Ukrainian. This fact alone goes part of the way towards explaining the anger, the frustration but also the band’s characteristic sense of enlightenment and hope which once again permeates this album: a sense that, with determination and willpower, we can look the darkest days square in the eyes, spit in their face and come out the other side dancing. It’s a sensibility that Gogol Bordello have always evoked, but perhaps more so now, what with the added complication of the global pandemic which forced so many of us to live our lives remotely, compounded by another man-made crisis which threatens to edge us ever closer to the edge of mutually assured destruction.
If you’re familiar with Gogol Bordello’s riotous and rambunctious back catalogue, then you will know exactly what to expect – and they deliver that expectation, not just in spades but via a convoy of truckloads of the stuff. And what is that stuff?
Well, it defies description, doesn’t it? Here is some old school punk, there is some Eastern European polka. Over there is some screaming metal riffage, while in the other corner the gypsies are coming out fighting with their campfire dances. In one line, there is a clarion call for political uprising, in the next an invitation to grab a beer, the nearest girl and jig until your feet catch fire. A mournful regret for a life left behind is counterpointed by a joyous celebration of the fact that one day it will be reclaimed.
In some ways, ‘Solidaritine’ – the title is an amalgam of the words solidarity and adrenaline, thus summing up the attitude and feel of the album – is Gogol Bordello’s most overtly political to date, especially on the likes of the emotionally charged ‘Take Only What You Can Carry’ and ‘Forces Of Victory’, which neatly juxtaposition the sandwiched, and very clever, ‘My Imaginary Son’, allowing Hutz full rein to vent his feelings about events in the land of his birth while at the same time keeping the entertainment value turned up to 110 per cent.
Gogol Bordello have produced yet another album that more than perfectly transcends the boundaries, imagined or otherwise, between folk and punk music. And they have brought one helluva party soundtrack in the process… let’s hope that, at the end of the night, it’s a party for all the right reasons…
- ‘Solidaritine’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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