Motorama - Poverty
by Dave Goodwin
published: 4 / 5 / 2015
Label:
Talitres
Format: CD
intro
Excellent third album from Russian band Motorama, which combine surprising 80’s Manchester post-punk influences with that of the National
I am at the moment really into Talitres, the label that helped the National on their way, as they are churning out some seriously good stuff. A, I suppose you would expect as they come from the same stables, there is something of the National in Russian quintet Motorama. Don’t let the idea of a band from a southern port near the Ukraine border put you off though because Motorama actually resemble a bunch of New Yorkers emulating the sound of 80’s Manchester, if that is even possible. It sounds like they are from somewhere near the Welsh border, but Motorama actually come from the port city of Rostov-On-Don which is somewhere in Southern Russia, and have been pumping out what has been described as a “Manchester-inspired, Nordic-cool sound.” To be honest, very little is known about the music scene in Russia, and trying to find out much more about Motorama has proved nigh on impossible. Other than Pussy Riot’s exploits, Wikipedia, which is the main source of information, only provides links to eleven of the country’s ‘alternative rock’ bands, one of them being Zvuki Mu, who were introduced to the UK by Brian Eno 25 years go. Since their conception Motorama have, however, been rated as something of a musical sensation and extensively toured continental Europe including the Slavic lands, and also Peru and Mexico. Motorama are Vladislav Parshin (vocals), Maxim Polivanov (guitars), Irene Parshina (bass), Roman Belenkiy (drums) and Alexander Norets (keyboards). They have been likened to a mix of Joy Division and New Order by some critics, and I can see the similarities in their sound, although there are many other faculties contributing to the Motorama sound, the majority of which are of other bands within the Factory Records spectrum such as Section 25. It’s blindingly obvious where they get their influences from on tracks such as ‘Impractical Advice’with its Hook-like bassline, while second number ‘Dispersed Energy’ has that definitive Curtis appeal as well as being reminiscent of Matt Beringer in its vocals. This great offering is absolutely dripping in that post-punk Manchester sound but also has that National-esque darkness and morbid fascination. Other highlights on here are the emotional ‘Red Drop’ and ‘Heavy Wave’, which has wayward keyboards meandering through jangling guitars, both iof which are fuelled by that ever so familiar heavy bassline. Marvellous!
Track Listing:-
1 Corona2 Dispersed Energy
3 Red Drop
4 Heavy Wave
5 Impractical Advice
6 Lottery
7 Old
8 Similar Way
9 Write To Me
Band Links:-
https://www.facebook.com/wearemotoramahttps://twitter.com/motorama_tweet
http://wearemotorama.com/
Label Links:-
http://www.talitres.com/en/https://www.facebook.com/talitres.rds
https://twitter.com/talitres
https://instagram.com/talitres/
soundcloud
reviews |
Many Nights (2019) |
Melodramatic but enjoyable fifth album from Russian pop quintet Motorama which is the strongest in their career to date |
Calendar (2013) |
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