[.ca] Gypsy Punks Underdog World St

Strike!:
I love fusion bands, and I always have. When multiple styles click together and create a new, vivid hybrid, then there's no other sound like it in the world. That's also a good description of Gogol Bordello's third full-length album, "Gypsy Punks Underdog World Strike" -- a mad mixture of gypsy, punk, reggae, Latin and who knows what else. It's more than a little insane, as it spins without warning from one style to the next. But the energy and spirit make that a good kind of insanity. It opens with staccato snarls and unpolished fiddle playing in "Sally," before exploding into a streak of frenetic punk music. Just when it seems that they have settled into a signature style, they kick into "Immigrant Punk," which is best described as rock played with fiddle and accordion. Eugene Hutz has the right amount of punk sneer that you'd expect for such music, but he also doesn't seem to be taking himself seriously. He fits into metal-tinged rockers, gypsy dance music, and a bunch of other genre-straddling song styles. In a nutshell, don't expect any of this to sound like... anything you've ever heard. Frontman Hutz -- who stars in the well-received "Everything Is Illuminated," adapted from Jonathan Safran Foer's novel -- seems to be spreading his colourful personality all over the music. Exhibit A: lyrics as wild and insane as the music. Example: "Start wearin' purple for me now/all your sanity and wits/they will all vanish/I promise!" Okay, Eugene, whatever you say! Hutz also provides the frenetic percussion and some of that equally energetic guitar. And he's backed by Yuri Lemeshev's accordion and Sergey Ryabtzev's violin, which add a folksy flair. It's a very weird sound, but Gogol Bordello manages to balance it out between the gypsy-Slavic sound, and the punk energy. The title of "Gypsy Punks Underdog World Strike" pretty much describes the album itself -- a mad, wild, colourful patchwork of different sounds and styles. Refreshingly weird and original.

• Sally
• I Would Never Wanna Be Young Again
• Not a Crime
• Immigrant Punk
• 60 Revolutions
• Avenue B
• Dogs Were Barking
• Oh No
• Start Wearing Purple
• Think Locally Fuck Globally
• Underdog World Strike
• Illumination
• Santa Marinella
• Undestructable
• Mishto!