On the Shelf 189 : Gogol Bordello
Nov. 5th, 2017 07:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedsitter23Gogol Bordello is one of my favorite bands, and I always go back to the Pogues for comparisons. Although I wasn't there (and they weren't released in the States), the first two Pogues albums are masterpieces. They created a style of music that hadn't been hard before, and stands up to anything released since.
The Gogols did likewise (and I was an early fan), except combining Eastern European elements to punk rock. The Pogues followed up their largely unheard first discs with two albums that captured the band maturing and not changing the sound, but finding a mainstream niche for it.
Gogol did the same. "Gypsy Punks Underworld Strike" is that moment. As masterful and majestic as "If I Should Fall From Grace with God". Starting with album 5 (although I try as much as I can to like "Hells Ditch") things get dicey. There's some great songs (Tuesday Morning, of course, "Living Ina World Without Her" and their version of Dylan's "When the Ship Comes In"), but there isn't anything I rate in the latter day Pogues or Shane's post-Pogues records.
None of the Gogols albums have been bad, but they couldn't keep the momentum up. But lets's take the obvious comparison, and look at any band. Even the greatest bands rarely make it over that four album hump. It's why we rate bands like the Clash, the Smiths, the New York Dolls, Nirvana, the Pixies, the Stooges and the Velvet Underground so high. We rip on rock juggernauts like The Rolling Stones, the Who and U2, but even bands with as much talent as the Jam, the Cars, the English Beat or some of the ones I mentioned, or bands interfered by fate like the Doors and Joy Division would have likely made a clunky album number eight.
So, I hesitate to make comment on Seekers and Finders, the seventh studio album (not to mention EPs and remix albums,etc). It's not for lack of trying. Eugene Hutz and company try to keep the spice level up. It generally works, and the only thing that works against it is the heights of the band's other records.
The guitar (a band highlight) is high in the mix which works well to drive the songs. There is a rabblerousing duet with Regina Spektor that offers something slightly new to the formula. Still, they straddle that line that can be summed up by "Saboteur's Blues" which has everything that makes the band great, but ultimately fights with the feeling you have heard the song before. It's a great listen, but a year from now, will i still reach for it?
It's the same problem Joe Strummer had when he was trying to make a similar World punk music. Sometimes he succeeded, sometimes he failed, though even in his failure, he was still the most interesting man in the room.
The Gogols did likewise (and I was an early fan), except combining Eastern European elements to punk rock. The Pogues followed up their largely unheard first discs with two albums that captured the band maturing and not changing the sound, but finding a mainstream niche for it.
Gogol did the same. "Gypsy Punks Underworld Strike" is that moment. As masterful and majestic as "If I Should Fall From Grace with God". Starting with album 5 (although I try as much as I can to like "Hells Ditch") things get dicey. There's some great songs (Tuesday Morning, of course, "Living Ina World Without Her" and their version of Dylan's "When the Ship Comes In"), but there isn't anything I rate in the latter day Pogues or Shane's post-Pogues records.
None of the Gogols albums have been bad, but they couldn't keep the momentum up. But lets's take the obvious comparison, and look at any band. Even the greatest bands rarely make it over that four album hump. It's why we rate bands like the Clash, the Smiths, the New York Dolls, Nirvana, the Pixies, the Stooges and the Velvet Underground so high. We rip on rock juggernauts like The Rolling Stones, the Who and U2, but even bands with as much talent as the Jam, the Cars, the English Beat or some of the ones I mentioned, or bands interfered by fate like the Doors and Joy Division would have likely made a clunky album number eight.
So, I hesitate to make comment on Seekers and Finders, the seventh studio album (not to mention EPs and remix albums,etc). It's not for lack of trying. Eugene Hutz and company try to keep the spice level up. It generally works, and the only thing that works against it is the heights of the band's other records.
The guitar (a band highlight) is high in the mix which works well to drive the songs. There is a rabblerousing duet with Regina Spektor that offers something slightly new to the formula. Still, they straddle that line that can be summed up by "Saboteur's Blues" which has everything that makes the band great, but ultimately fights with the feeling you have heard the song before. It's a great listen, but a year from now, will i still reach for it?
It's the same problem Joe Strummer had when he was trying to make a similar World punk music. Sometimes he succeeded, sometimes he failed, though even in his failure, he was still the most interesting man in the room.
