Three albums: Gogol Bordello, Suede and Blitzpøp

Three more albums in one go. Two by bands with decades long experience and one by a new band from Austria. Very different music can be heard on the albums. The common denominator is quality.

Solidaritine. Gogol Bordello

It seems like I missed an album about five years ago. So it's not that strange that when I ran into my Gogol Bordello t-shirt from circa 2010 recently (in fact wearing it right now), I all of a sudden started worrying whether the band was still around. And then Solidaritine dropped in my email box. The band around Eugene Hütz is back and with an album that simply bounces out of my speakers. This is Gogol Bordello as the world has come to love the band. The mix of punkrock energy with more traditional, East-European music works fantastically good. In Europe we had Kaizers Orchestra and have De Kift. In the U.S. I would say the closest come the Celtic punkers Dropkick Murphies. There is some change in the music though. I would say this album is far more guitar oriented with the more traditional instruments in a lesser role or not even there. This album has more anger in it. This may have to do with the war raging in Hütz' country of birth. His real name is Yevgen Oleksandrovych Nikolayev-Symono. And who is the liar in 'Focal Coin'?, I muse, while listening to the song. Of course the artwork does not leave room for doubt here.

The gypsy punk is all over the place though. Solidaritine live will be a huge party. In combination with the albums that came before Gogol Bordello will be able to raise every roof and make seismographs register minor earthquakes a whole evening long. If Solidaritine is a come back, it can only be described as a glorious one. "Caravan is coming". it reads on my 2010 t-shirt. Bring it on, please.

Autofiction. Suede

Suede had been on a hiatus for quite some time. In 2022 it is more than clear that the U.K. former Britpop band is in its second youth for quite some time now. Autofiction is Suede's fourth album since kicking in the third phase of its career. (1. With Bernard Butler, 2. without, 3. since Bloodsports) And a strong album it is, again. The members are by now men of middle age. Because of it I've got the strong impression I'm listening to who Suede really is. Yes, I'm hearing all the familiar elements that make Suede a good band. You can fill in your favourite description here.

With an album like Autofiction Suede is pleasing itself and because of it pleases its fans double. Brett Anderson's voice is up front as always, searching for the highest reach he can manage at this age and getting there gloriously still. The album kicks off with a few monsters of songs. There's so much conviction coming across. If there's ever been any modesty in Suede, it's certainly abandoned here. '15 Again', not for me, thank you, drives on the keyboards of Neil Codling in a decisive way. 'The Only Way I Can Love You' rocks in all the right Suede ways. It makes Autofiction better than 'Suede' and more solid than 'Head Music', my two favourite Suede albums so far. Time will tell if Autofiction joins them but at this point in time the answer is yes.

Except for 'The Blue Hour', the four new albums all sit well with me, but this one jumps out from the first second. Okay, there are a few, a little cheesy ballads also, but I can live with them easily. Autofiction has an urgency that comes across. Simply very well made. "Oohoo, that boy on the stage" indeed. Suede has everything under control in 2022 and in the same line up for ages as well. If this is the band's punk record, as was said in interviews, please continue this way.

MDMA. Blitzpøp

The avid reader of this blog will have found Austria's Blitzpøp on the blog before. Starting with the title song of this mini, six song, album. Blitzpøp plays music caught between (garage)rock, grunge and punk. In other words: loud playing and rough singing is the word.

Three of the four members have a history in Austrian rock bands. They formed a new band and release their debut mini album in the early fall of 2022. In singer Pia Unterlechner, a.k.a. Pia Basey, the band has one of the toughest sounding female singers in the world, from Tirol in Austria. No doubt she spits blood after singing. In Yves Krismer Blitzpøp has the guitarist to match this powerhouse. The two wrote the songs together "in their dirty little flat" but only found the key to the album when bassist Alexander Örn Númason and drummer Kajetan Abber joined. They fill up the songs beyond the call of duty. This is pure power, however, without forgetting for a minute that it's a song they are serving. Like all the best bands in grunge and garage rock, Blitzpøp plays songs. No matter how tough a song sounds, there are clear melodies, sung straight into my face by singer Pia.

Fans of bands like Nirvana and The Kills can't go wrong here. Blitzpøp is all about energy and getting it across. With MDMA the band succeeded in doing this without a doubt. Six songs that make me wanting to hear more.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order Solidaritine here:

https://gogolbordello.bandcamp.com/album/solidaritine