“We are the Red Elvises, your favorite rock ’n roll band!”
It’s a bold claim to be making as your band takes the stage, to be sure. Especially for a group who is better known to older generations sporting Hawaiian shirts and cocktails than musically-driven teens and twenty-somethings. But no matter what your age, these Russian music fiends will have you on your feet and faking an Eastern European accent whether you’re a high school jock, a college indie-rocker or a kid just looking for a show to take your parents to see. The Red Elvises may not become your favorite band, but their off-kilter surf-rock will certainly have your attention.
Formed in 1995, the Red Elvises began tearing across the U.S. a few years later. Igor Yuzow and Oleg Bernov are the only two active original members of the band. Their drummer, Adam Gust, is the only American in the band, and their forth member has been rotated out several times and is most recently a very attractive, European keyboarding lass with the highest voice I’ve ever heard. But no matter their lineup, the band’s sound remains as wild and silly as it was in their early days.
A typical show is bound to include at least two of the following: a conga line, a handful of drunk adults trying to belly dance (Beware of “I Wanna See You Belly Dance”), a t least one awkwardly patterned suit (Bernov favors the leopard print, but Yuzow is regularly sporting zebra stripes), and an accordion and/or keytar . Dancing and general wackiness abound with every chord this band plays.
And their latest release, Drinking with Jesus, is no exception. Just judging this album by the song titles will have you cracking a smile. Tracks like “Twist Like Uma Thurma” and “Play Me Your Banjo” may not make any sense, but they are ridiculously fun.
“Drinking with Jesus” is Yuzow’s tale of a night of heavy drinking with Jesus in a bar in Louisiana as he tries to find out why his life has been so terrible. The night ends with Jesus dancing with him and calling him a drunk, a loser and a womanizer. Yes, this is standard Red Elvises fodder.
“Lara’s Wedding” is every rock band’s staple song about being inebriated at someone else’s wedding, while love song “Better Than Cocaine” sings out that “your love is better than cocaine / it’s stronger than my back pain / and sweeter than champagne.” “Into the Sun” is the story of a ship full of drunk pirates who have gone completely crazy. Every chorus is infectious and simple, which means you’ll be singing along after the first time through, whether you’d like to admit it or not.
This is the formula that the Red Elvises have implemented in every album of their discography. Write some nonsense lyrics in broken English, which is probably just playing up their Russian emphasis, but it’s still funny to hear. Get some nice harmonics going in the chorus, add hand motions for the crowd, throw in a synthesizer, some horns, a sax or two, maybe even a violin or some other outrageous instrument, and boom. Instant Russian surf rock.
Yuzow’s falsetto and Bernov’s scraggly rumble hold the chemistry of any good musical duo. The life solutions they teach are simple. Girlfriend left you, as explained in “I’m Wearing Black?” Mourn and get drunk. Life got you down? Sulk and get drunk. But they aren’t always advocating an easy way out. “Stupid Drinking Song” is a remorseful song about a man who drank his life away and now has nothing to show for it.
I want to be embarrassed that I enjoy this band so much, but I can’t. They may be totally off the wall, but they’re too darn personable. Like Man Man’s happier, flamboyant older brother. And though they may not be the world’s most admirable role models, the Red Elvises will at least bring you out to the dance floor with their soggy ballads.
Note: I’ve just heard some rumors that Bernov has or is about to leave the Elvises, in which case the band is changing their name to Igor and the Red Elvises. But no matter. I have the utmost faith that they will still be the rockingest Russians around.
