Heave Media

It’s Official — This Bordello Is Always Worth Visiting

Thanks to a fantastic fifth album, it’s safe to say that Gogol Bordello is getting better all the time.

Gogol Bordello

Trans-Continental Hustle

Released on Apr 27, 2010

There’s no question—at least in my mind—that the members of Gogol Bordello are the masters of gypsy punk music.  No matter where I am or what I’m doing, listening to any of their tracks makes me want to immediately jump up and start gleefully stomping around. This is what makes me a hit at parties. But all of that glee aside, what makes Gogol Bordello a great band (rather than just one with a unique and identifiable sound) is their ability to produce material that is true to their sound, but still innovative. With Trans-Continental Hustle, they’ve managed to once again subtly and successfully reinvent themselves.

First of all, I have to admit a bias from the start. I went into this album praying that I would love it, because I didn’t want to be the sourpuss that could dislike an album with as fantastic of a title as this one. Yes, an album title is technically a surface-level thing. But in this case, since the inspiration for the album came from lead singer Eugene Hutz’s recent relocation to Brazil, it made a decent amount of sense.  Also, the entire album is so energetic that I’m afraid that hearing it live would cause a full-body freak-out.

The Brazilian influence is apparent in the introduction to the opening track, “Pala Tute.” While Gogol Bordello has always used acoustic guitars, hearing only Hutz’s voice and a guitar for the first few moments of the track sets an interesting tone for the track. Once the track gets going, violins become the instrumental highlight, along with the classic accordion sounds. Thankfully, none of these tones completely drown out the band’s lyrical storytelling. Honestly, their lyrics and bombastic sing-along choruses make me want to be a vagabond so badly.

Since I’m partial to their higher-energy songs, “My Companjera” is one of my absolute favorite tracks that I’ve heard in the past few months. I’m worried that the fingers of both the guitarist and the violinist have fallen off from playing their instruments with such speed and agility. It just sounds like one huge party, but not a sloppy, fall-down-drunk one. Whereas for some bands, high-energy songs can often sound shoddy, Gogol Bordello seems to be more capable of producing interesting chords and combinations on their faster tracks.

However, that’s not to say that their more toned-down songs are lacking in entertainment value or talent. One of the most relaxed songs on the track, “Sun Is On My Side,” sounds like an elegiac ballad sung with a bunch of friends. Sure, it doesn’t make me want to stomp around, but it does help to demonstrate that Gogol Bordello is entertaining at different tempos. 

I wish that there was some negative thing to say about this album, but I’m having a hard time finding something. Oh! If you have a headache, I wouldn’t listen to this album. So there—it’s not a great album to soundtrack a hangover. But it is the perfect album to help make the road to that hangover much more fun.

Posted by Alyssa Vincent on Apr 27, 2010 @ 9:05 am