Considering how much I love this album, and how many times I've played it, I'm actually surprised that it's the only Gogol Bordello album I've heard. I'm not going to pretend that I'm a huge fan of Gogol Bordello, but as far as Gypsy Punks goes, it's a super fun record and it puts me in a good mood every time I hear it. In fact, the reason why I don't have any other albums by this zany New York punk band is probably because I overplayed Gypsy Punks when I first got my hands on it years ago. It must have been all I listened to for a good month or two. If you're unfamiliar with the group, they're a band formed in Manhattan with a hodgepodge of "world music" influences (in quotes because world music is a stupid term to describe music that's not Western World), mostly Gypsy music, but also ranging from Latin rock to punk and Reggae.
Gypsy Punks is bursting with energy, thanks in part to frontman Eugene Hütz's vibrant personality and thick Ukrainian accent. Eugene's lyrics deal primarily with his immigrant experiences and with Gypsy and punk culture, but it's his voice that takes centre stage as he bellows out songs with indomitable enthusiasm. His lyrics are a mix of English, Ukrainian, Spanish and Portuguese, but often (like on Think Locally, Fuck Globally) he simply loses himself in the music and just sings along without any real words. This fountain of energy also flows from a mix of upbeat violins, accordions, guitars (both electric and acoustic), bass and a wide variety of percussion. The songs are generally uptempo and have a party atmosphere to them, with the exception of a few slower numbers near the end of the album (Illumination and Undestructible). Every culture seems to have it's own form of high-energy music, and this album expertly combines those different cultures together.
My personal favourites on this album are Sally, I Would Never Wanna Be Young Again, 60 Revolutions, Oh No and Think Locally, Fuck Globally, because they seem to be the most enthusiastic songs on an already vibrant album. I should really stop sleeping on this band and check out what else they have to offer, but for now I'm happy listening to Gypsy Punks over and over again.
No comments:
Post a Comment