Gogol Bordello - Pura Vida Conspiracy (31/03/2014)
The might Gogol Bordello gypsy punks are pretty much the definition of a niche group. From their florescent circusesque stage shows to front man Eugene Hutz wee moustache, everything was about pushing the boundaries of punk, which in the late 90’s were generally quite closed together. And with every release, with every show, the band pushed those borders further and further apart with their cacophony of folk punk fusion. So it’s exciting to see just where this next album will take us next.
Beginning with We Rise Again, the track seems like standard intro fair for a Gogol Bordello album. Hutz aggressively beats his acoustic while singing about love and removing borders, while the rest of the band laugh and chatter and chime in with a wooooo-ahhhh at the correct intervals. And the album continues like that for a little longer. Then a little longer, and a little more longer, and you realise that wait a second, this all just sounds like one really long song. And that’s when the sad truth dawns on you.
Gogol Bordello have a formula.
Now maybe this is a new thing, maybe it’s not, but it is there. Even the slower songs have the same rules. It’s not like it’s just that the band write songs of a certain type of structure because it stretches far beyond that. There’s the list of things to namedrop every song (namely gypsies, good times, and loving EVERYONE), the amount of times a b-chord needs to be use (a lot), ect. That being said, that does not necessarily make it a bad album.
There are quite a few highlights (Gypsy Auto Pilot will be getting a lot of plays in the near future), but it’s just disappointing to hear the end of experimentation in a band whose soul premise was experimenting with a general straightforward genre. But might as well rejoice in the few gems you find, even if they dull in time.
Ben Spencer
Beginning with We Rise Again, the track seems like standard intro fair for a Gogol Bordello album. Hutz aggressively beats his acoustic while singing about love and removing borders, while the rest of the band laugh and chatter and chime in with a wooooo-ahhhh at the correct intervals. And the album continues like that for a little longer. Then a little longer, and a little more longer, and you realise that wait a second, this all just sounds like one really long song. And that’s when the sad truth dawns on you.
Gogol Bordello have a formula.
Now maybe this is a new thing, maybe it’s not, but it is there. Even the slower songs have the same rules. It’s not like it’s just that the band write songs of a certain type of structure because it stretches far beyond that. There’s the list of things to namedrop every song (namely gypsies, good times, and loving EVERYONE), the amount of times a b-chord needs to be use (a lot), ect. That being said, that does not necessarily make it a bad album.
There are quite a few highlights (Gypsy Auto Pilot will be getting a lot of plays in the near future), but it’s just disappointing to hear the end of experimentation in a band whose soul premise was experimenting with a general straightforward genre. But might as well rejoice in the few gems you find, even if they dull in time.
Ben Spencer