Gogol Bordello have never exactly dealt in subtlety, and “We Mean It, Man!” doesn’t suddenly discover restraint. Instead, it finds Eugene Hütz and company doing what they’ve always done best: making music that sounds like it might come apart at the seams at any second, while somehow holding together through sheer force of personality.
There’s a lot going on here, mind. Co-produced by Nick Launay and Adam “Atom” Greenspan, this is a record that leans hard into post-punk textures, electronic layers and big, gated rhythms without ever forgetting the band’s gypsy punk heart. If anything, it feels like Gogol Bordello growing yet another new sonic tail, dragging punk, hardcore, techno and all manner of cultural collision behind them.
The title track opens the thing in suitably chaotic fashion. “We Mean It, Man!” is mad, unhinged and more than a little intimidating, with jungle drums, a punk rock core and enough electro pulse to make it feel as if it’s spiralling gloriously out of control. The sax only adds to the sense that this might all go properly off the rails. It is a statement opener, no question.
“Life Is Possible Again” carries more weight than most once you factor in the context and where Hütz comes from, but one of the band’s enduring gifts is that even when they’re saying something important, they do it with hooks big enough to carry the message. It is accessible, catchy and full of the kind of stubborn optimism that feels earned.
Elsewhere, “No Time For Idiots” has a sharp 80s art rock edge, while “Hater Liquidator” sounds like the soundtrack to some nightmarish B-movie, albeit one with a pulse and a point. “Boiling Point,” featuring Grace Bergere, changes the mood entirely. Acoustic and gentle, it proves that underneath all the glorious racket there’s real versatility here, not least in the harmonies, which are superb.
“Ignition” sounds like it belongs in an 80s disco, and that’s meant as praise. “From Boyarka to Boyaca,” with Puzzled Panther, pushes the band’s cultural mash-up instinct right to the front, while “Mystics” adds orchestral flourishes and a bit of gravitas before curling its lip in a very Clash-like fashion. “We Did Good With The Good We Did” is as anthemic as its title suggests, and “Crayons” is silly, fun and impossible not to enjoy.
By the time “State of Shock” rolls around sounding like Iggy Pop fronting a gypsy jazz band, you’re either all in or you’re probably long gone. Closing with “Solidarity,” in the Nick Launay mix featuring Bernard Sumner, the album ends on something that sounds genuinely huge.
For all its ideas, attitude and energy, though, “We Mean It, Man!” doesn’t always quite land every punch. There are moments where the sense of anything-goes brilliance threatens to become a little scattergun, and while that chaos is part of Gogol Bordello’s charm, it can also keep this from reaching the heights it occasionally hints at.
Still, when this record hits, it really hits. It is bold, clever, adventurous and unmistakably theirs. And in a world full of records that play it safe, there’s something admirable about a band still sounding this fearless.
RATING 7/10
