Sultry blizzard night, Moon Dogs! Prepare the undercoat, today we will go to the Arctic. Norilsk… A city besieged by the stupid walkers of General Zugunder… The strings of the balalaika snap in the cold, so the polar bears arm themselves with double basses. There is such a musician even in the local rockabilly band Zippers. “Zippers? – You may ask – What do the clasps on jeans mean?” But no, I will answer, these are massive “zippers” on motorcycle jackets!
Selflessly dressed in these pea jackets, three Stiff Dudes and one Blue-faced Lady roast real rock’n’roll, melting centuries-old snow and bringing global warming closer (here, Greta!). Their new album “Would You Love Me” is hot, and I suggest we eat today! That is, listen, Nibblers, of course, listen! Under the colorful cover (“baby, contrik, two cats”) There are 13 songs of Zipper’s own production, plus two overseas hits disguised in Norilsk boots.
Group composition:
Ekaterina Karaseva – vocals
Alexander “McFly” Lysenko – guitar
Vyacheslav Galaida – double bass
Alexander Klevtsov – drums
Guest saxophonist – Alexander Redkin (Ekaterina and the three Alexandras are like the Romanov dynasty!) Are you ready, Sleepless in Sysert? Then let’s go!
With the very first track, Stone Heart, Zipper raises the bar high: an elastic rhythm section, a juicy, disturbing guitar, Ekaterina’s vocals, sounding now cat-like, then frantic, like a banshee in the wind. And the “firm” sound is so greasy that I have to clean the speakers for a long time… Great neo-rockabilly song, a percussive beginning! The second number, In The Bombshel, does not reduce the heat, having a slight taste of Imelda Mae (anyone who has tried Imelda knows it’s delicious). If you decide to dance to this song in your bomb shelter, make sure the roof is strong, you risk bringing it down on your desperate heads with unbridled stomp!
How Can I Love You So is practically a Western swing with a laconic but energetic saxophone solo. Canes for gentlemen, muslin for young ladies. And all on the dance floor, of course! Dead Cat Boogie: Oddly enough, neither a cat nor a boogie. It’s an alluring, somber rumba, reminiscent of the days when Havana was one big hangout. To this music, long-buried pets will return to you, move their tails to the beat and disperse. Leaving the smell of cigars and wet wool in the air…
If cowboys were reindeer herders, starting duels in the light of the aurora borealis, and then trying to free their palms from frozen revolvers with the help of improvised warm liquids, Ancient Rock’n’roll would be the perfect soundtrack for such a movie. But the song is good on its own. Trans-Siberian Unlove is a fast-paced guitar locomotive, rattling the wheels of drums on the bass rails, exploding the silence of the endless night. There are no words… In the sense that the piece is instrumental.
Arctic Boogie Beat is a mature country rock of harsh polar explorers who staged a rodeo on seals. Rosanna Cash, drifting on an ice floe. “I’m frozen” – Katya sings, and you believe her. A ready-made radio hit. Blue Hotel is a dissection of Chris Isaac’s song in order to turn it into a new “Tainted Love”. Where the dark magic of the original went is known only to our Zippirats. Catherine cheekily draws out the refrain, like a Martian who sees a Spanish galleon. It is not known whether the goals set by such a reading were achieved, but this, to my taste, is the only failure of the album.
Silver Mines Blues is really blues, fast like Elvis‘ “Mystery Train” and bluish like Muddy Waters’ “Mojo Workin'”. Frankenstein is a minor stroll based on Mary Shelley, melodic, macabre, stuck in the brain, but not in the legs. A young scientist from Skolkovo, Vitya Frankenstein, stitches the remains of the deceased and revives them with the power of Chubais. That, in short, is the plot. Well, or not like that…
The romantically swinging Dreamer is a perfect example of neo-rockabilly, which shows the mystical ingredient that was missing in the Blue Hotel. Experimental is a psychobilly action movie where guitarist Alexander Lysenko takes a place at the microphone, portraying a scumbag from the London suburbs in his voice. Convincing and fervent. From The Moon To The Sun is nostalgic and dreamy, with a country and western flavor.
Stray Cat Strut, a song by the Stray Cats, known to us from the movie Blind Man’s Buff, begins with an unexpected Latin beat. Ekaterina’s purring voice is supported by sax, languid and hoarse, as if the saxophonist smokes right into it. But from the second verse, the Zippers turn to the swing of the original, holding it all the way to the tail, which wags again to the rhythm of bossa nova. A remarkable Zipperversion. Would You Love Me is the album’s title track, fast and unbridled, filled with drive and primal passion. All the neighbors are dancing, the polar bears, and the seals and walruses are singing along heartily. Yes, little animals, this is one of the highlights of the record! And, unfortunately, the final one.
Verdict: strong work. Excellent recording quality, mastery of instruments and arrangements. Talented author’s material. Although it was possible to do without a couple of songs in favor of general expression, the album has already firmly settled in my phone and will not leave it soon.
Greetings! I’m closer to Surf, sometimes I listen to Rockabilly, there’s something to compare it with! The music is good, the lyrics are not ours, American brainwashing erases the identity of good musicians of a great country! Somehow I wanted Russian texts, that there are few meanings in Russia? For example, Chistyakov with “Man and Cat”, Zero is not the only one, Cinema, DDT, etc., etc. would never have become who they are now, where are Rashan Langwich’s friends? Something like that
I wouldn’t criticize for that. We don’t have a corresponding culture for rock and roll and everything related to it, moreover, for a long time they tried to destroy everything related to it. In addition, the time of rock and roll has long passed: Zero, Cinema and DDT still came to the culture of the 80s and 90s in the 80s and 90s, and rockabilly bands are an attempt to bring the culture of the 50s and 60s in 2020.- th year. And if we also take into account the fact that we can count the performers of classic rock and roll on our fingers, and they are all in the toughest underground, then we are not even talking about introducing rock and roll culture, but stupidly about its survival in our country.
In short, until rock and roll becomes popular in the wake of the renaissance, it is foolish to expect that three and a half people will build a pyramid in a literally scorched cultural desert. We need themes for songs, we need subcultures that will create these same themes, but we don’t have all this and we don’t have plans.