This is the first time that Tantsi, which Ukrainian punk band Vopli Vidopliassova originally “released” as a demo tape in 1989, has been seen on vinyl, and it comes fully remastered and with some bonus tracks. These songs were recorded in one night and were quickly being dubbed and passed along back in the day, representing the start of a long and diverse career that is still active today.
The title track starts the listen with talking and crisp drums that leave it unclear what direction the music will take, though the buzzing guitars and yelping vocals make it pretty clear soon enough. “La Letel (I Flew)” follows, and brings a thicker presence to the raw formula that’s full of dense guitar from Yuri Zdorenko.
Deeper into the affair, “Tovarish Maior (Comrade Major)” trims the pace and volume back with tuneful singing alongside plenty of atmosphere that eventually lets the thick fuzz in, while “Naliahai (Press On)” emits plenty of primitive melody under the noisy template that spotlights Serhiy Sakhno’s drumming acrobatics.
Arriving closer to the end, the dreamy “Rassvet (Dawn)” finds a hypnotic place to exist in between bouts of thumping rock that makes good use of front man Oleg Skrypka’s lively bayan, and the vocally animated “Hey! Liubo! (Hey! Luba!)” illustrates the diversity of Skrypka’s pipes amid the very skilled bass playing from Sashko Pipa.
A record that captures a moment in time when the Ukrainian punks were pushing against the rule from the Kremlin, although they would later on branch off into more electronic focused music, here is where it all started for Volpi Vidopliassova. A visceral document of youthful rebellion, this is limited to just 2000 copies, and I’d be surprised if there’s many left.
