Music Picks — LA Weekly
THE VIPER ROOM
«Sometimes life is a bit rough/Vodka`s not cold enough/You can cry it away,» Ilya Lagutenko croons, almost sympathetically. «See whose land is on fire?/Not yours, not mine.» The Mumiy Troll singer might know a thing or two about life`s ups and downs. When the shadowy post-punk band formed in the then–Soviet Union`s far eastern city ofVladivostok in 1983, they were practically treated like enemies of the state. Fast-forward a few decades and they`re considered Russian national heroes. As ever, Lagutenko`s darkly witty lyrics are wrapped up in a swanky Roxy Music glitter and crowned with Yuri Tsaler`s insidiously searing guitar figures. «Sing along, God dammit,» Lagutenko urges. «How do you like it? What a planet!» —Falling James