by Stephanny Torres •
When it comes to Gogol Bordello, we are used to their notoriously dirty, gritty, rough, and eclectic chaos that these Gypsy rockers brought with Super Taranta!. However, with Trans-Continental Hustle it seems like the musicians trimmed their mustaches, polished their shoes, and cleaned up their sound -for the most part at least-.
Along with switching to a new and bigger record label (Columbia), Gogol also spruced up their act by way of producer Rick Rubin. So while this sounds a tad scary since we're used to Lower East Side Gypsy punk rockers, the cleaner sound isn't at a total loss because this time around they've moved their rowdy party from the Lower East Side to the beat driven streets of Brazil, Gogol frontman's new home.
Trans-Continental Hustle kicks off with 'Pale Tute'', right off the bat you can tell that the guys have been influenced by Rubin, but let's not get jaded now, because their is still plenty of Gypsy in this album's soul. Synchronized back vocals accompany the chorus bringing a sense of comaraderie, however it sounds a tad too synchronized and it left me wishing that the vocals would be slightly disorganized. 'My Companjera' is an even more up beat song that features nostalgic lyrics, a first for Bordello, and the typical and always welcomed fiddle inferno. As for this whole Brazilian feel I was talking about, you can definitely feel it in Uma Menina Uma Cigna', where they managed to keep their style yet induce those catchy yet breezy Brazialian feels. And no, it does not make you want to get up an join a Michael Franti video, but it certainly makes you want to move. As for those of you that are all about older Bordello, your consolation price comes by way of Ímmigraniada' (We Comin' Rougher)' the most rough and punk track of the album. The hard thrusting drums, wall breaking chants, and politically rebellious tone will make you smile.
So pretty much your Trans Continetal formula is as follows: Gather Gogol's essence, clean it up a little, move to a more tropical land were basements don't exist, and keep as much rockin fiddle as possible with chants galore. Nope, I cannot say that this is better than Taranta, and I cannot say that it comes close to it, but it certainly comes close to coming close to it. If that makes any sense.
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