Mike Sembos on Mumiy Troll

"Vladivostok is a city near the North Korean border. … In the ’80s and early ’90s, it was a lawless town where gangsters ruled the streets, the 'Wild West of Russia,' but it was too far from Moscow for anyone in power to notice, or to care. In this environment formed Mumiy Troll in 1983. It was an underground project in the truest sense. They played sparsely-attended shows behind the iron curtain. … They’re influential enough to affect Russian trends and to steer youth culture. They have their own social networking site, ikra.tv. A school textbook even calls the band the most important cultural emergence to influence the ’90s generation in Russia. … In an age in which bands like 'gypsy punks' Gogol Bordello can fill American clubs, it seems as good a time as any for Mumiy Troll to hit the States. The main difference, however: Mumiy Troll lyrics are in Russian. Is the U.S. ready for a foreign language band? The band has recorded some songs in English, but when it came time to release Comrade Ambassador — its debut release in the U.S. influenced by new wave, Nine Inch Nails and David Bowie — the band decided to stay true to its native language" ("Music," New Haven Advocate, 10/1/09, p. 35).