Gogol Bordello by Noah Sanders

The Quick and Easy

Sound: Gypsy Rock
Album: Super Taranta!
Label: Side-One Dummy
Show: March 10th SODO Showbox, 8pm door. All Ages.
Why: An incredible live show
Website: www.gogolbordello.com

Live

At this point in time it's pretty much a foregone conclusion: Gogol Bordello put on a near-heart stopping live show. The rag-tag band of a multitude of cultures (two Russians, a Ukrainian, an Israeli, an Ethiopian, and on and on), faux-gypsies are nothing if not energetic. A patchwork of a punk rock mentality and old world instrumentation fused together with the band's seemingly endless energy. Fronted by sometime-actor Eugene Hutz and armed with an assortment of accordions, violins, upright pianos, and even an occasional emcee, Gogol Bordello is a transcendent performance that should be sought out and savored.

With a credo that reads “Music makes it possible to make the contradictions of life sound harmonious, at least for the duration of a song”. Their hour long set will leave you sore, exhausted, and sporting a decidedly shit eating grin and somewhere in there you’ll experience a fleeting clarity of the contradictions of life.

In the Studio

If only the band's 2007 Super Taranta! could be boasted of in the same way. Gogol Bordello's Eastern European accordion riffs and bearded violinists invoke unstoppable ass-shaking in a live setting. Their studio album rings somewhat false.

Sure, "Ultimate" and "Wonderlust King", the album's openers, are fist-pounding, jig-stomping, full-band romps, high-energy blasts seemingly imported direct from the booze-soaked back alley beer-halls of Kiev. Yet, after nearly ten minutes of noodling fiddle solos, and Eugene Hutz's gravelly holler, the shtick starts wearing a bit thin. What comes across as fresh on stage seems over-practiced in album form, the tinny strings too tinny, the plinking thrift store piano almost too perfectly out of tune. Blame the album's length, or just blame this writer's limited appreciation of gypsy rock, but after an hour of staged-sounding theatrics, Super Taranta! comes off as a weak reflection of an impressive live band.

These are all reasons why you should see them live. For the uninitiated it'll be a revelation, for the haters an undeniable argument as to why music lovers should be paying attention to Gogol Bordello and for those who claim themselves as fans, it's not even an option.

Discography
Voi-La Intruder – 1999 (Rubric Records)
Multi Kontra Culti vs. Irony - September 2002 (Rubric Records) 2XLP - December 2006
Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike - August 2005 (SideOneDummy Records) 2XLP - March 2006