Gogol Bordello Is Coming To First Avenue On 2/25

“We Mean It, Man!” Is often heard yelled around the Twin Cities in the past few weeks. Usually aimed at masked men, it’s also the title of the latest album of international Punk band Gogol Bordello that is going to be released next month. Their whirlwind live show will come to First Avenue’s Mainroom on 2/25. Tickets are available HERE

Led by Ukraine born front man Eugene Hütz, has been filling up rooms with an energy that could run a whole city. A lifelong lover of the punk scene growing up in Ukraine, Hütz finally found himself where he felt he belonged, in New York’s Lower East Side in the late '90s, where he went to shows and later performed at the legendary CBGB. Crashing at friends’ apartments and playing acoustic sets in NYC Ukrainian bars, his group steadily grew to an 8 piece multicultural band, combining Eastern, Western, and Latin traditions. Since then, the band has lit up stages around the world alongside System of a Down, Primus, Rancid, Dropkick Murphys, dueted with Regina Spektor, and cut albums with legends Rick Rubin, Steve Albini, and a forthcoming album with Nic Launay.

For “We Mean It, Man!”, Hütz set out to blend post-punk textures and aggro to Gogol Bordello’s free-wheeling gypsy-punk. He chose to work with the production team of Nick Launay (Gang of Four, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Idles) and Adam “Atom” Greenspan (Nick Cave, Idles, Flogging Molly) to accomplish this goal. Together with his long-running band, they knocked out twelve super punchy and hook-laden songs. The title track, “We Mean It, Man!” is all pile-driving punk intensity which crescendoes into no-wave sax skronk. “No Time For Idiots” is a Strummer/Jones-esque riff-punk with a giant chorus payoff. “Life Is Possible Again” voices an optimism against the dread of the Ukraine war. “Solidarity” features New Order’s Bernard Sumner on the Angelic Upstart’s Solidarność-punk anthem updated to address the Ukraine war effort. This is the album and political message the world needs now.