Group blends genres, ethnicities for style that pops

Eugene Hütz is like a wedding singer, birthday party clown
and Jackass cast member rolled into one skinny Ukrainian man with a
handle-bar moustache.

With acrobatic flips, magic tricks and an indulgence in harming
equipment and himself to embellish his rough musical act, the
frontman of Gogol Bordello violently stretches the role of a
singer. But for the East Coast-based band that will plow through
the Troubadour this Sunday, a trail of circus-like destruction only
helps its popularity.

“This band never failed even once to raise hell on a show
and have everybody stomping like it was their last day of
lives,” said Hütz.

Gogol Bordello, named after 19th-century absurdist writer
Nikolai Gogol, is a group of immigrants and refugees from Israel,
the Ukraine and Russia, plus an American drummer. They play Eastern
European gypsy music through a punk-rock filter”“ like polka
with the tempo turned up and a whole lot of vodka poured into the
mix.

“Yeah, it’s a lot of accordion, but the (stuff) that
comes with it is going to blow your mind,” said
Hütz.

But the use of traditional instruments and styles doesn’t
reflect on a nostalgia for the Soviet bloc. In fact, the effect is
quite the opposite. By taking a slice of traditional flavors,
adding something new and then putting the whole thing in the
blender, Gogol Bordello challenges the post-modern notion that
everything has already been done.

“People say that, on one hand, it sounds like Russian
gypsy music, and on the other hand it sounds like Jamaican dance
hall. Exactly, that’s what I’m saying: Possibilities
are limitless,” Hütz said.

Hütz is a self-described alcoholic, a vice which is
probably useful to numb his body to the hazards of his performance.
He frequently injures himself on stage, both by accident ““
banging his head on a bass drum while attempting a cartwheel
““ and on purpose, extinguishing a cigarette on his bare chest
or pouring hot wax in his mouth.

His masochism is part of his passionate
delivery; it’s his way of showing he is sincere.

Audiences respond well to the reckless energy Gogol Bordello
brings. At New York venues which the band frequents, including
Joe’s Pub and The Fez, audiences actually get up on tables
and dance. The Fez suffered great losses of furniture and dishes
after the first time the Gogol tornado touched down, but after
tallying up profits and demand from enthusiastic patrons, the band
was asked to return.

A big part of Gogol Bordello’s statement is to challenge
today’s popular music.

“We ended up in America because we were deeply fascinated
with American musicians, and then we get here and it’s all in
this rotten state,” Hütz said.

He regrets the loss of such acts as The Cramps, Fugazi, The Cows
and The Jesus Lizard, who made music back when it was about making
an artistic statement and not just trying to get signed to a
label.

“All this (stuff) on the charts is complete
garbage,” said Hütz. “There is so much music
happening in the world that is full of energy and creative,
inspiring power, that it seems to be absurd to go out and buy some
record that you’ve heard on the radio.”

But fortunately, Hütz believes people still have the
capacity to respond to art that has verve, and the overwhelmingly
positive reactions his shows elicit is testament to this.

“There are a lot of people that are into a lot of
progressive (stuff),” said Hütz. “They come out of
the woodwork once they hear the bell chime.”