Hutz once sang that on his headphones was Bob Marley and Joe Strummer, and it’s the latter whose spirit drives this record. It’s not the Joe who partied in the Hammersmith Palais though, but the solo artist who led his roving band of Mescaleros through prairies of diverse influences and social commentary. Gogol Bordello have drawn on so, so much from their musical heritage to make this album, passing beyond the gypsy-punk label and through to glorious self-definition. We’ve got the gorgeous Madness energy of ‘Hater Liquidator’, an organ-propelled free-wheeling machine of a track, but then we’re presented with the almost post-punk ‘Mystics’, all open synth and jagged guitars without compromising on their trademark scrappy style. Neither of these influences would have worked for the one-dimensional Gogol Bordello of fifteen years ago but now? They’re challenging their own genre labels to expand their comfort zone to include pretty much the entire world. 

Returning to their full-on riotous roots but in a fuller form is what makes ‘We Mean It, Man!’ so spectacular. The deceptively simple chorus of ‘Crayons’ bobs above waves of complex energy, and their collaboration with Puzzled Panther, ‘From Boyarka to Boyaca’ is five minutes of sheer fervour, with a title spat like a slogan across the kind of extended folk-punk rollercoaster that we haven’t heard on a studio record since their early days. On tape, Gogol Bordello never seemed to capture the fury of their live shows until now, leaving their stage presence up to our imagination. Now, they seem to have brought the spirit that erupts live with them onto their records. 

There’s a few moments of contemplation and respite, and it wouldn’t be a Gogol Bordello record without Hutz cracking out his acoustic guitar around an imaginary campfire. This time it’s ‘Boiling Point’, a track that breathes hope for the future if we use keep on fighting the good fight. Even though ‘State of Shock’ ramps up the BPM as a brass-heavy closer, it bounces into a stirring message of resistance. “Darkness is fragile, just the the light,” Hutz muses, and he’s sure of his own victory against the forces of oppression.

“We exist in a mystical realm and nobody knows how it works,” the frontman intones as the first words we hear on ‘We Mean It, Man!’, and that truly has to be the best summary of where Gogol Bordello are at in 2026. They’re in their own chaotic world that blends everything from eighties pop to Manu Chao to rabble-rousing street punk, and they’ve never sounded better.

KATE ALLVEY

The song is taken from their seventh album ‘Seekers and Finders’, which was released in August via Cooking Vinyl.

The band will also be playing the following UK/Ireland shows with Lucky Chops next month.

DECEMBER
12 MANCHESTER Academy
14 LONDON O2 Brixton Academy
15 WOLVERHAMPTON Wulfrunn Hall
16 NOTTINGHAM Rock City
17 GLASGOW O2 Academy
19 DUBLIN, IRE Academy
20 GALWAY, IRE The Black Box

photo: Daniel Efram

“‘Walking On The Burning Coal’ is about Rite of Passage… which our modern complacent society does not provide” explains frontman Eugene Hütz.

‘Seekers and Finders’ is set for release on August 25th via Cooking Vinyl.

Gogol Bordello also play the following UK tour dates:
Tue 12th – Manchester Academy, Manchester
Thu 14th – O2 Academy Brixton, London
Fri 15th – Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton
Sat 16th – Rock City, Nottingham
Sun 17th – O2 Academy, Glasgow

The record will be released on the 25th August via Cooking Vinyl and can be pre-ordered here. You can view the lyric video for the first single, ‘Saboteur Blues’, below.

The New York gypsy punks will also be playing the following UK shows with Dave Hause.

JUNE
08-11 RAEHILLS MEADOWS Eden Festival*
JULY
01 LONDON British Summer Time, Hyde Park*
03 CARDIFF Tramshed
04 BRISTOL O2 Academy
05 LEEDS Leeds Beckett University SU
06 BRIGHTON The Dome

* Gogol Bordello only

photo: Daniel Efram

The New York gypsy punks’ latest album is their 2013 sixth effort, ‘Pura Vida Conspiracy’, on ATO. Meanwhile, Dave Hause released his third solo album, ‘Bury Me in Philly’, earlier this year on Rise Records.

JUNE
08-11 RAEHILLS MEADOWS Eden Festival*
JULY
01 LONDON British Summer Time, Hyde Park*
03 CARDIFF Tramshed
04 BRISTOL O2 Academy
05 LEEDS Leeds Beckett University SU
06 BRIGHTON The Dome
07 CHELTENHAM 2000 Trees Festival^

* Gogol Bordello only
^ Dave Hause only

photo: Todd Cooper

Legendary emo punk band, Jawbreaker, will reunite and perform for the first time in over 20 years exclusively at the festival. They will headline the final night of the event, which takes place September 15-17 at Douglas Park, Chicago.

The other headliners for the weekend will be Nine Inch Nails and Queens Of Stone Age, with New Order, Paramore, Prophets of Rage, M.I.A., Wu-Tang Clan, Mike D (DJ Set), A Day To Remember, Gogol Bordello, Taking Back Sunday, Vic Mensa, Dirty Heads, TV on the Radio, Ministry, Dinosaur Jr., New Found Glory, Death From Above 1979, Bad Brains, FIDLAR, Action Bronson, Pennywise, Built to Spill, X, Peaches, The Lawrence Arms, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Orwells, Bayside, Say Anything, Mayday Parade, Streetlight Manifesto, Dead Cross, Minus the Bear, The Menzingers, LIARS, GWAR, Buzzcocks, GBH, Real Friends, Hot Water Music, Shabazz Palaces, Andrew W.K., Fishbone, The Story So Far, State Champs, Four Year Strong, Beach Slang, The Cribs, that dog., Knuckle Puck, Chon, Slaves, The Hotelier, The Flatliners, Dessa, Saul Williams, Nothing More, Alice Bag, Tobacco, Sleep On It, Downtown Boys, Engine 88 and more set to appear across festival.

Three-Day Passes go on sale today (4/19) at Noon CDT, and more information can be found at the Riot Fest website.

The shows will be in support of the band’s seventh album, ‘Shift’, which was released last year on Dew Process.

JULY
01 LONDON British Summer Time, Hyde Park w/ Green Day
03 MANCHESTER Gorilla
04 GLASGOW King Tut’s
05 LEEDS Beckett Students Union w/ Gogol Bordello
06 PORSTMOUTH The Wedgerooms

Rancid, Gogol Bordello, The Hives, The Living End, Beach Slang, SWMRS, Sunflower Bean and Public Access TV will join the band on Saturday 1st July.

Tickets for the event are available here.

The autobiographical record tells the story of Eugene Hutz, celebrating critical acclaim upon release.

Fans can grab a limited edition double-disc vinyl copy via SideOneDummy.

Tickets for both shows went on sale earlier this year, and are available here.

First to hit the stage are Finland’s Disco Ensemble, and instantly fail to make an impact on what is probably the worst turnout for a band at the Carling Academy that I’ve ever seen. Audience numbers have barely reached three figures, yet Miikka Koivisto leads his fourpiece through an energetic performance of much of their sophomore album ‘First Aid Kit’. It’s endearing to see a band put so much effort into a performance that unimpresses almost the entire crowd, yet at the same time it saddens me to see so much talent wasted on an audience who aren’t interested. The Fins manages to bust out CD-perfect renditions of ‘We Might Fall Apart’, ‘Black Euro’ and new track ‘This is not a party’, before name-checking half of Scandinavia and heading offstage.

Second band to hit the stage, and the first to really get the party started come in the form of Danko Jones. With a deliciously refreshing blend of old-school garage rock, Jones and his band make Brixton their own with a set full of egotistical, sexy, grimey and downright FUN songs. Between tracks ‘Invisible’ and ‘Dance’, the Mango Kid and his compadres win the crowd over with their rock and roll ethics, most notably when proclaiming half their tracks are inspired by oral sex. There just aren’t enough bands around like this anymore.

Bedouin Soundclash have always been a one-trick pony in my eyes. ‘Sounding a Mosaiic’ was a successful album commercially, but seemed to recycle the same ideas and at times came across as monotonous. Despite this, there is now an Academy full of Soundclash fans here to dance their arses off, and there are points during the set where you could close your eyes and imagine lying on a Caribbean Beach, with a Margarita in your hand. I must admit that they manage to create a truly unique sound from the standard three-piece setup, and songs such as ‘Shelter’ and ‘Shadow of a Man’ sound magnificent here tonight. Saving the best for last, they end on a double whammy of their commercial breakthrough ‘When the night feels my song’, along with a cover of ‘New Years Day’, which keep the crowd partying until the very last chord.

One thing’s for sure, and that is that Gogol Bordello are hands down the most absurd band doing the rounds at the moment. Since Radio 1 endorsed the frankly ridiculous ‘Start wearing purple’, this band of Eastern European circus rejects have been on a steady upward road to success. However, the novelty of their quirks seems to have worn off tonight, as translating their musical gimmicks into a live show seems to have failed miserably. While the majority of the audience seems to buy it, most likely because by this point there are very few sober people left, the loud outfits and ridiculous body movements failed to compensate for the fact that they produced a truly horrible sound on the stage this evening. Struggling to keep in time with each other, they stumbled through a set made up of one or two well known tracks, and a host of material that seemed to be unfamiliar to the crowd. That’s the problem with one-hit wonders – it’s all well having a successful single, but when no one bothers to buy your albums, your live show will fall flat on its arse.

Tonight was one of those nights that peaked too early. With Bedouin Soundclash being the clear favourite of all people present, they were the ones that went home feeling like they’d made a real impression on this London crowd. It’s a shame that only a few people had heard of Disco Ensemble and Danko Jones, as they both did their mothers proud. Gogol Bordello on the other hand, should put down their instruments and go back to the circus.

Andy R