Black Russians - Death By Communism

Good god, has there ever been a lot of great pop-punk stuff coming out lately! Those of you who are connoisseurs of the genre are probably wondering what took me so long to get to this killer debut album from Black Russians. Well, you know: I was very busy renovating my nuclear war bunker. Out on the fabulous OUTLOUD! Records, Death By Communism is 13 tracks of ripping pop-punk rock n' roll that never wavers from a Soviet Union/Cold War theme. If you're looking for something different from the usual "songs about girls" motif, well this ought to do it for you! In some totally twisted way, this album actually makes me nostalgic for the Cold War days. And given my professed love for dark humor, there was just never a doubt that Black Russians would be right on my wavelength. Some of these songs had me absolutely rolling. But the band gimmick would not be worth much if the songs weren't so freaking good! Black Russians really know how to write catchy three-chord pop songs, and I really dig the band's tough, hard-hitting execution of the pop-punk style. There's even a metal/hard rock influence integrated into a few of these tracks that takes me back to my own Cold War era adolescence.

It's remarkable that in this age of information leaks, the identities of Black Russians 1 through 4 have remained a well-guarded secret. And isn't it much better that way? I choose to believe that the '80s never ended and this band still lurks behind the Iron Curtain. Even if you completely took away the concept of Death By Communism, you'd still have a kick-ass pop-punk album! Jump on this one if you dig Lillingtons, Connie Dungs, Sloppy Seconds, et al.!



-L.R.

https://outloudrecords.bandcamp.com/album/death-by-communism 
https://www.facebook.com/blackrussiansussr/ 
https://www.facebook.com/OUTLOUDrecords/