Белый китаец (China White) Вкладыш от жвачки турбо (Turbo Gum Insert) cassette
When this tape first kicked on, I thought I was in for some catchy rock’n’roll/power pop throwback stuff, which would of course have been A-OK with me. The band’s titular song “China White,” which begins this ten-song cassette, nails that style absolutely perfectly. As the song concluded, I was finishing reading the attached letter which confusingly described the band as being a synth punk band, as does the label’s Bandcamp. As soon as the next song started up, I realized I was in for quite the ride. Completely changing gears, the band starts fluidly ripping through genre after genre without sounding forced or contrived at all, working their way from the aforementioned style through songs of fast D-beat, nasty garage punk, herky-jerky synth punk, and ultimately landing on a few killer tracks of the mid-tempo synth punk persuasion, akin to bands like the SPITS. This is outstanding. An absolutely killer cassette from St. Petersburg, Russia. Apparently the band is on a hiatus right now, as some of the members left Russia because of the war—yet another reason to hate war. The band and label have made a point to express that proceeds from this release are going to support people from Ukraine.