{"id":66329,"date":"2022-04-01T16:07:48","date_gmt":"2022-04-01T20:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/?p=66329"},"modified":"2023-10-02T14:56:24","modified_gmt":"2023-10-02T18:56:24","slug":"five-ukrainian-punk-bands-to-sink-your-teeth-into","status":"publish","type":"dossiers","link":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/en\/dossiers-360\/five-ukrainian-punk-bands-to-sink-your-teeth-into\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Ukrainian Punk Bands to Sink Your Teeth Into"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Much like everyone on Earth, Ukraine has been on our minds as of late. It\u2019s quite easy to get caught up in the vicious cycle of doom scrolling through the latest casualties\u2014where statistics like \u201cat least 23,000 dead, and 10 million displaced,\u201d according to Reuters\u2014bombard the news and the names Volodymyr Zelensky and unfortunately, Vladimir Putin, are commonplace in the brain lexicon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But one entity that we have become much more aware of in the last month is the music scene in Ukraine\u2014specifically their past and current punk music scene. A band like Gogol Bordello probably comes to mind when you think of Ukrainian punk music, but the gypsy punk group is actually based in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York. We wanted to find recent and past punk music actually birthed in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also have Bandcamp and Spotify to an extent to thank for this, as we discovered various playlists through their platforms, but also the North American and European musicians who have taken it upon themselves to share a bit of their knowledge of the Ukrainian underground punk scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why punk specifically? Since its inception, punk rock has been a means for liberation, both musically and politically depending on the band. It\u2019s been the very essence of calling out unjust governments, racism, sexism, a general disregard for human rights, and of course, war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s also a website called Neformat<\/a><\/em>, run by journalist Yaryna Denysyuk, that covers the underground music scene of Uzhhorod, Ukraine which we used to learn about the history and context of punk music in Ukraine. A quote from her Denysyuk is below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe post-Soviet era was one of total poverty whilst the national economy was restructured: there was no internet to share and record the music made, no creative economy to support young talent, and no music industry to speak of. It was only in the 2000s that a wider underground scene started to appear [in Ukraine].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During our online sojourn into the Ukrainian punk scene, we found something interesting. Punk has always been a political requiem, but much of Ukrainian punk music tends to look inward at aspects like depression, anxiety, and trauma. There are heavy songs about the damnation of war, and you can be sure that new bands will form, creating songs about the Russian invasion, but up until now, much of the punk in Ukraine has been a form of cathartic release for its musicians without any links to politics. It could be called Apolitical punk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, the word \u201cpunk\u201d may have a different meaning in different parts of the world. In Ukraine for example, because the scene is quite small and DIY, many bands are looped into the punk genre. Aspects of speed metal, hardcore, post-hardcore, doom, black metal, psychobilly, alt-rock \u2026 they all fall under punk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This list is in no way shape or forms complete, and it just scratches the surface but should give you a small idea of some old and new punk music from Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Vopli Vidopliassova \u2013 Experimental \u201880s punk rock<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s difficult for us in North America and even Western Europe to imagine the chokehold the Soviet Union had over Ukrainian cultures, including music. \u201cThe Soviets saw hippies and punks as manifestations of \u201charmful bourgeois culture,\u201d but there was a great burst of creativity in the late 1980s and sometime after the country got its freedom,\u201d Denysyuk says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Underground metal and punk rock or experimental electronic bands started appearing during the late 80s and early 1990s, but most of the bands from that period are forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One that was crucial for pushing the punk sound in Ukraine is Vopli Vidopliassova or commonly referred to as VV. VV played rock n\u2019 roll primarily but had a bunch of punk and early post-punk songs that debuted around 1987 at the Kyiv Rock Club. One song, the 1989 \u201c\u0422\u0430\u043d\u0446i,\u201d was an immediate hit, showing the obscurity of Ukrainian rock and punk music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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