Accordion Punk

Accordion, or a squeeze box, is a very popular instrument in Russia. It is relatively simple to operate, easy to transport, it is loud enough to overshout local quarrels and fights, and last but not the least - it has a belt which makes it difficult to loose if you want to have a break for another shot of vodka.

It can be played everywhere and for multiple purposes - on the streets, busking; on a birthday party, trying to escape the life stories of your wife's grandma; in the field, creating an unplugged sonic terror at the fellow village dwellers; at the weddings and sometimes even funerals when they are like in an old Russian joke showing a deep sentiment of a husband to the mother of his wife: 'was burying my mother-in-law, torn apart two squeeze boxes'.

Not surprisingly that it didn't take much time for the adventurous musicians usually smashing their heads against the wall of a distorted guitar noise to realise what a wonderful instrument it is. Back in 1987 a Leningrad ensemble Nol' made a first overture blatantly putting accordion in the centre of their severely twisted punk-n-roll at the 6ths festival of the Leningrad Rock Club.

Imagine: a young and very motivated drummer together with a long and gloomy bassist playing straight rock-n-roll metre, and a leader of the band in front of them on a wooden chair (na taburetke), [...] who is tearing apart the bellows of his accordion.

Writes Andrey Burlaka, a music journalist in the Leningrad youth magazine Smena in 1987. Or as another music journal of that time recalls:

Everyone who comes to the concert of a Leningrad band Nol' for the first time is usually confused: is it rock at all? Bass-guitar , drums , and ... accordion. [...] Chistyakov's [the leader of the band] rock suddenly comes to be so Russian that you can think that it was not born among the afro-american musicians but came from a village club somewhere around Vologda.
 

However, strangely enough up until 2000's few followed the example of the brave Leningrad lads. Some sources say that it is probably related to the fact that accordion nearly became a national symbol when Victor Chernomyrdin, the Russian prime-minister in the Yelstin's era acknowledged his passionate devotion to this wonderful instrument and - silence - showed some rare skills.

Who cares that the economy went down to the post-war level when such divine tunes are played in the Kremlin and no punks, rockers or other idles should be allowed to discredit its majestic image.

But times changed and in recent years across the Russian cities regular gig-goers used more and more often to find themselves observing a confusing pictures of some fine gentlemen tearing apart the squeezeboxes under the accompaniment of heavily distorted guitars, machine gun drums and outrageous singing. A village party gone nuts? Or the punks got too much of potato moonshine? Have a listen and decide yourself!