Part of a long-running history of once-underground Eastern European bands (Czechoslovakia's are probably the best known to Western audiences), Russia's blend abrasive and (think of and the rest of the European " in opposition" scene) influences with loose, danceable rhythms that will be instantly familiar to anyone who's ever seen a . The combination enhances both sides of the equation, giving the more aspects an approachable context and making it harder to dismiss as an album for recovering Deadheads to do the Awkward White Boy Wiggle to. This results in tracks like the bizarrely tuned which sounds like a mash-up of one of 's acoustic tunes from the 's and a particularly noisy and lurching track, alongside more familiarly Eastern European-sounding tunes like which slowly envelops a -style acoustic melody in waves of cacophony. is not for the faint-hearted listener -- at the very least, some familiarity with will be a tremendous help, especially with co-lead singer 's bearish growl of a voice -- but most of a musically adventurous bent will likely find it quite fascinating. ~ Stewart Mason