As an American who spent most of her summers on various beaches
along the three coasts, surf rock has long held a strong, inescapable
nostalgic quality for me. Although I have never concentrated on
the genre in any great depth, I have spent my share of unforgettable
nights listening to live surf jams in crowded bars and under starry
skies. With these memories, and being from the Deep South, the
last place I'd ever have expected to find this music was the dark
little basement that is Club Schwein in Moscow, Russia.
On August 14, 2004, the outdoor surf festival that was to feature
Red Elvises (USA) and Moscow-based bands the Vivisectors and Lost
Pelicanos was cancelled due to Moscow's characteristic late summer
torrential rain. Despite the set-back, the Vivisectors and St.
Petersburg legends the Bombers made up for it with a generous 2-hour
set of instrumental surf that rocked the chilly night of September
4, conjuring visions of Baja waves and the taste of Corona an dlime.
The audience flooded to the front of the stage as the Vivisectors'
liquid guitars and mercurial rhythms warmed them away from their
shots of vodka and carried them over the waves of a much stronger
intoxication--the first song, "Cemetery Boogie". Arms
were swimming, hips were rolling, and feet were nearly hydroplaning
over the wooden dance floor as the band flowed with a graceful
energy through numbers that included "Cowboy Surfer", "White
Truck", and an excellent cover of "Wipe Out".
The action on stage was as entertaining as the music while the
band pushed and encouraged each other with howls and pumping fists,
swaying, rocking, and lunging into the music in a tight trance
that held little regard for the audience. Although the presence
of an audience member like the geeky kid in the "White Power" t-shirt
would normally reflect negatively on the band,the Vivisectors were
so engulfed in their obvious passion for the music that they could
hardly have been blamed for having let such an offense go unnoticed.
It was this passion that made the set and had the crowd begging
for more as rhythm guitarists Mike Antipov and Ivan Chugunov left
the stage to let the Bombers take off on their own with originals
such as "Cucumber Lotion" and "Whores", and
covers including "Shakin' with the Bad Guy" and "Casbah".
With only the three Bombers remaining on stage the show lost none
of its energy.
Antipov founded the Vivisectors in 2000 as his one-man recording
project of spy-fi and surf. His album, "A Case History of
John Doe," available from Soyuz Records and at most live shows
today, was received with such crazed attention that he set out
to build a performing group to give the hungry public more of what
they wanted. Antipov saw that it was clearly too much for one man.
Holding true to the original name, which he says was inspired by
B-movies, Antipov approached St. Petersburg surf legends the Bombers,
made up of Vitali "Kalya" Andreyev, Max Temnov and Misha
Smirnov for their clear sound and original style that complimented
his own so well. He recruited Chugunov at a club the night they
first met. The Vivisectors are currently working on their first album as
a group and playing occasional
shows in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Sarah Savoy |