Военные куплеты / WAR SONGS

We've been waiting a while for the return of the wonderful Vezhlivy Otkaz. It's been 7 years since their excellent Geese and Swans released in 2010. One of my favorite records of the last 10 years. Whereas that album had a melancholy feel brought to their progression towards a more avant sound, this album is more angular and strident while still becoming more avant. The vocals are sparser than previously but the signature phrasing lyrically & musically are very recognizable.

The core of the band has been remarkably consistent with Roman Suslov (guitar, vocals), Dmitry Shumilov (bass), Andrey Solovyev (trumpet) & Mikhail Mitin (drums) have been in the band since 1989. Other members of this line up, Maxim Trefan (grand piano), Pavel Karmanov (grand piano), Sergey Ryzhenko (violin), Pavel Tonkovid (sax), have all appeared in previous versions of the band.

The band certainly benefits from having the expanded line-up with violin, sax & trumpet key parts of their sound. They certainly sound like a very tight band and this material benefits from having been played live for a period of time. For fans of the band this is a great album with a continued development of their sound and a bunch of great tunes. Highly recommended for fans of avant edgy folk.