Post Punk Showdown

If Borat started a band, it might sound like Gogol Bordello, a punk gypsy band that draws on Romani folk music traditions of eastern Europe. That's not exactly a fair comparison: Sasha Baron Cohen's fictional Borat is from Kazakhstan; the lead singer of Gogol, Eugene Hutz, was born in the Ukraine. And as Hutz himself told the LA Weekly, "Just because somebody has an accent and mustache doesn't mean a fucking fuck." Still, there are some similarities worth noting: Hutz seems to share Borat's fashion sense, for one.  Both  are also brilliant performers--Gogol Bordello is reputed to be one of the best live shows out there, if the online raves are to be believed.

And one final comparison:  like the hapless victim co-stars of Borat, I am never quite sure whether the whole thing is for real or just a send-up. Hutz's accent is so thick, his voice so abrasive, and his syntax so mangled that the overall effect, for me, is comic. I admit that Super Taranta is my first experience with Gogol, but songs like "Supertheory of Supereverything" can't be serious, can they?



 Parodic or not, Hutz's lyrics are often hilarious, though I'm not exactly sure if I am laughing with or at Gogol Bordello. The sound of the band, a kind of klezmer-on-steroids, doesn't change much throughout Super Taranta. The band has an amazingly international line-up, with members from Russia, Israel, China, and Ethiopia. And their sound is highly original, driven by the accordion, power chords, and echoes of folk melodies. The combination is unlike anything I have ever heard, and as grating as Hutz's voice is, the songs grew on me.

 The Yeah Yeah Yeahs is another post-punk band, more popular than Gogol but similarly committed to the punk sensibility.  The band is fronted by Karen O, whose raw vocals belie her Oberlin Conservatory musical pedigree.  Fever to Tell has been in my collection for a few years now.  Its best songs, such as the opening track "Rich," have a tightly controlled fury.  "Rich" seems aimed at, well, rich people, and it might make a good theme song for the Occupy Movement:



Beyond anger--at rich people, at ex-lovers--there is not a lot of emotional depth here. The lyrics seem to diminish with each listen, though Maps" is a striking, downtempo break-up song. And Karen O's frenetic sexual energy holds a lot of the lesser songs together. Overall, though, Fever was a fatiguing listening experience. Neither of these albums will be on my frequent play list, but for sheer audacity and originality, I'll give this round to Gogol Bordello.

 Decision: Gogol Bordello, Super Taranta