Trans-Continental Hustle

Gogol Bordello – Trans-continental Hustle
Reviewed by Sadie O., 6/10/10
Kings of Gypsy-Punk meet Rick Ruben, and strangely, tone it down a little. There’s plenty of punk left, but there’s a lot of acoustic and a lot of really rather sweet and pretty stuff. I couldn’t even hear any cursing, although there’s a bit of circumventing FCCs on track 8 (“caca”)… Perhaps it’s the mellow effect of Eugene Hutz apparently relocating to Brazil, and perhaps it’s being on a major label, but it’s not quite as no-holds-barred-music-to-stage-dive-to as usual. That said, it’s still Gogol Bordello, and it’s still damn good.
1. 4:05 ***chugging acoustic guitars, rather folk-bluesy, turns fully (and enthusiastically) gypsy for the chorus.
2. 3:22 **hyperactive polka, total rave-up.
3. 4:25 **lovely and mellow acoustic guitars, singing as beautiful as Mr. Hutz can reasonably be asked to do. Goes from almost Spanish guitar to a circle folk dance, but in an Eastern European lament sorta feel.
4. 3:57 **swingy and high-energy
5. 3:47 ***jaunty little bassline, then total punk rave-up – with a smidge of violins, and a hint of spaghetti western.
6. 4:48 **super mellow acoustic guitar and accordion, sad sad song. Builds to anthemic polemic.
7. 4:35 **Western movie sound, until it turns into something more punk/gypsy/maybe Latin – crazy, I dunno! Then there’s a bit of plaintive accordion, and OPA!
8. 4:57 ****chugging groove, I think it’s almost reggae, revolution lyrics, rather subversive in sound as well as lyric.
9. 4:35 **gypsy cumbia? Anyway, it’s groovy, midtempo, acoustic.
10. 4:37 ***upbeat gallop, expansive feel, bits of groovy wiggle…
11. 3:11 **upbeat and uptempo, gypsy-punk with a bit of Latin – about needing spirit guides in northern Brazil? Hm…
12. 4:07 ****more upbeat gypsy punk, great lyrics and attitude.
13. 4:17 *****awesome – acoustic guitar and cuica and big fat chorus and great lyrics.