The newest album from the persevering Gogol Bordello, SOLIDARITINE, was written by frontman Eugene Hutz before the Russian invasion of Ukraine took place, but his songs directly connect as the artist has been writing about displaced people struggling in this world and coming together as humans for decades now.
The title of the album is defined by Hutz as “the substance that unlocks our empathy and our full human potential. I suppose it’s a brother of Adrenaline… or, at least, it rhymes with it.” That creativity and humor has always been at the heart of the multi-cultural group as the collective of Hutz (vocals, guitar), Sergey Ryabtsev (violin), Pedro Erazo (vocals, percussion), Boris Pelekh (guitar), Ashley Tobias (vocals), Korey Kingston (drums), and Gil Alexandre (bass), consciously amp their punk/hardcore influences on this release by working with Walter Schreifels (Gorilla Biscuits, Quicksand).
The pounding opening of “Shot of Solidaritine” begins that lo-fi heavy vibe before the upbeat ska “Focus Coin” goes on and on. The interesting cover of Fugazi’s “Blueprint” is repetitive and sounds odd on Hutz, who usually flies all over the sonic map. Gypsy punk party tracks are what the band is best known for, and those tunes come alive the most on this album. The breathy vocals and finger snaps color the raucous “I’m Coming Out” while the ominous groove pushes along “Knack for Life” before the damaged rambling search for love on “The Great Hunt of Idiot Savant” brings smirks of self-deprecation.
Tracks where the fiddles stand out, such as “Gut Guidance” lend the band a robust sound while “Fire On Ice Floe” looks internal while displaying a snaking, cool, dance-funk groove in an elongated fashion. A standout lyrically and musically is “Era of the End of Eras” capturing our current situation around strumming strings and large arena rock swells, complete with a guest appearance from H.R. of the Bad Brains.
The one song Hutz added directly about the invasion of Ukraine was the forcefully huge, complete with dynamic changes, “Forces of Victory”. The track is a powerful direct statement, featuring Ukrainian Nobel prize nominee poet and singer Serhiy Zhadan and electro-folk Ukrainian artists Kazka. The Rancid-inspired “Huckleberry Generation” is also inspired by Hutz youth in Ukraine and solidifies the punk/hardcore move from this band to wrap up the album.
While perhaps not directly about this current war, the fantastic “Take Only What You Can Carry” is universal to everyone ever displaced by war/trauma/disaster in direct punk fashion and this is where Gogol Bordello have done their best work on SOLIDARITINE; displaying the humanism, joy, anger, and energy which unites us all through music and life.
