Gogol Bordello's gypsy punk goes galactic

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Gogol Bordello frontman Eugene Hutz has three words to describe the New York via Ukraine punk rock on his band's forthcoming effort, "Super Taranta."

"To me," Hutz said in heavily accented English, "it is something to be summed up in three words -- new rebel intelligence."

It's a colorful yet hard-to-define term and nothing less would suit the drunken revelry of Gogol Bordello. Songs of politics, immigration, religion, sex and booze are constructed with an Eastern European flair and a punk attitude, as the eight-piece thrashes through accordion and violin accents in a manner comparable to the Pogues and System of a Down gallanting through old-world influences.

Due July 10, "Super Taranta" is the act's follow-up to its 2005 breakthrough, "Gypsy Punks Underdog World Strike" (Sideonedummy).

"There are parallels from daily life to a transgalactic understanding of things," Hutz said of the new songs. "Suddenly, things of sexual and mystical and scientific nature find a place in one song, all in the context of drinking music. There you have it. It's astro-physic, alcoholic, orgasmic hysteria."

And it seems to be catching on. Formed around the turn of the century, Gogol Bordello put out a host of releases for Rubic Records before signing to Los Angeles-based Sideonedummy.

Sideonedummy benefited from getting the band a slot on the Warped tour, and lucked into the beginning of Hutz's acting career. Around the time of the release of "Gypsy Punks," Hutz was doing press for a co-starring role with

To prep for the release of "Super Taranta," Gogol Bordello performed at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Southern California and will appear at Tennessee's Bonnaroo Festival in June. The band will also head overseas for a host of European festivals, including the United Kingdom's T in the Park, Reading and Leeds events.

Hutz said, "We started out from a very particular cultural setting -- Eastern European diaspora in New York City. Then we started realizing what we do is resonating not only with The New York Times and hip magazines, but also with the U.K. and Scandinavia and Italy. It went global. We're resonating with the whole world."

Reuters/Billboard

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