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A Magazine for Sheffield

Gogol Bordello Seekers and Finders

Gogol aren’t reinventing the wheel here, but they play to their strengths perfectly.


Released: 25 August 2017
Seekers and Finders

Gogol Bordello have carved out their place as a unique musical experience for almost 20 years through non-stop touring and a constant stream of new material.

Most bands would have burned out years ago, relying on the quirky genre to get them by. Thankfully, Gogol are not most bands. Seekers and Finders sees new elements in their writing create a diverse collection of songs and a well-balanced album. The opening track, ‘Did It All’, wastes no time introducing the eclectic instrumentation of their seventh record. From female backing melodies to reggae elements and Romanian string arrangements, the classic Gogol sound is refreshed and reintroduced.

From here you are propelled into a mad wonderland, taken through genre-defying soundscapes, erratic storytelling and multilingual vocal melodies. Each song represents an element of life in the Gogol clan and the album’s diversity could be due to the fact it was written everywhere from Latin America to Eastern Europe.

New single, ‘Walking on the Burning Coal’, sees a darker, heavier side of Gogol bring the punk element back to the gypsy sound. The title track sees a female lead vocal introduce the dramatic and enticing number, until opening up into a duet with frontman Eugene Hütz. ‘Familia Bonfireball’ sees more of the high-energy sound we expect, but breaks into something fit for a shootout scene in a western, while ‘Love Gangsters’ sounds like the weirdest Bond theme ever.

Gogol aren’t reinventing the wheel here, but they play to their strengths perfectly and provide new elements of progression. They prove they’re masters of the craft, able to grow while refusing to be constricted by their recognisable sound. This is a band that makes records full of songs to connect to at live shows and this is the perfect soundtrack. Seven albums deep, the merry band of gypsy punks deliver diverse and playful snapshots of transcontinental life.

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