I had initially thought to do this specific review a few weeks ago, when Pussy Riot were in the news for their arrest-inducing performance at a major Orthodox church. I had scrapped the idea when I acquired Ubei Sexista and discovered that it clocked in at barely 18 minutes; I had hoped to have a larger body of work to go off of, something to show what their musical reach was. Now, however, the incarcerated members of Pussy Riot are coming up on an appeal hearing (10.1.2012). With them being out of the immediate spotlight in the West, Amnesty International has begun a campaign to bring their effective political captivity to an end and to send Vladimir Putin a message about freedom of expression.
It’s hard to strip the political aspects away from Pussy Riot. Their active rebellion against the Russian government (and the control of lifestyle it appears to endorse) is what makes them famous and, frankly, provides their reason for existence. That being said, taken as just music they’re hard to listen to. The six songs on Ubei Sexista are straight power-chord punk in the hardcore vein; their vocalists shred their lungs over compact-but-sloppy guitars in a way that Bikini Kill and the 4-Skins did better and first. I’m also limited by not speaking Russian. I’m sure they’re actually as funny and pointed as the Circle Jerks at their peak (evidence: “Kropotkin Vodka” purportedly urges housewives to use their vacuum cleaners to achieve orgasm), I’m just not equipped to understand the joke.
Thankfully, Pussy Riot aren’t a band. They’re a protest-art collective, and a damn fine one at that. Their hijinks make conventional protesters like Greenpeace or PETA look bland and passé. Their spearing of Putin exactly at the time he seems to deserve it most speaks volumes about the stones these women have in a culture that is more pervasively patriarchal than our own (and with even shadowier powers of government for detaining dissidents). Whatever their musical talent, Pussy Riot need to be free to continue their efforts at shaking up Russian (and American and European and…) culture.
Final Grade: Pass. Pussy Riot are clearly in the pass/fail category and get no letter grade; you don’t listen to them, you pay attention to them. Go back and look at their case as well as the Amnesty campaign to help them. Pussy Riot is powerless if they’re the only voice raised.
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