The Scope

Hello you filthy and corrupt capitalist Scope-reading scum! I’ve waited a long time to bring you the socialist wonders of St. John’s long running instrumental surf rock kings The Kremlin. It’s kinda ridiculous that I’m only getting around to blogging about them now after almost a year of covering the St. John’s scene.

I can remember back about five years ago when The Kremlin first started playing around town. Founded on the basis that with instrumental rock music you can pretty much name your songs whatever you want, and that catchy gimmicks go hand in hand with entertaining surf rock. I don’t know if they realized just how rich a vein of gimmick material could be drawn from classic cold war Russian Communist propaganda, but for the last 4 years or so The Kremlin have not run dry on ideas.

What caught my interest at first, beyond their deadly classic surf guitar chops and former  bassist Komrad Trotsky’s amazing ability to rile up a crowd with his extremely over-the-top anti-capitalist audience baiting (in a mostly authentic Russian accent none-the-less) what caught my fancy most was the fact that they started their own political party. The KDPC or the Kremlin Dance Party of Canada was an official (although short lived) political party (I can’t remember if they were going for provincial, or federal) under a platform that emphasized unity through communal serf rock-enhanced rhythmic gyrations. I know they had enough signatures to qualify, but they stopped short of finding a representative to run on the ballot, so there sadly were no KDPC campaign signs in the following election. I still have my official KDPC membership card in my wallet though, and until someone can point to a Wikipedia page that says otherwise, I can’t think of another rock band in existence that actually started a political party in their name.

The Kremlin have become well known through the years for their elaborate sets and performances. Sometimes they construct spaceships on stage and don homemade cosmonaut outfits, sometimes they’re clad in gas masks and Russian flags while hosting proletariat all-you-can-eat borscht soup lines for party members.

A main staple of their shows are the dance competitions where audiences writhe and contort themselves as wildly as they can in the hopes of being the one to go home with the prize cabbage or turnip. I don’t mean to flaunt my dance floor prowess (yes I do) but I’ve won it three times, they made me part of the official KDPC Go-Go Dance Strike Force in recognition of my noteworthy achievements in the art of rhythmic flailing. This will be a part of my resume til’ the end of days, I’ll tell you.

Sadly, The Kremlin have been forced into a partial exile while guitarist Komrad Lenin, who recently finished his PhD in English (so I guess I should call him “Doctor” Komrad Lenin) has taken a job as a professor up at my alma mater, Sir Wilfred Grenfell College in Corner Brook, and, I guess they can’t play St John’s bar shows too often. Luckily I was able to take in one of their rare shows a couple of weeks ago at Junctions and escape with a few videos.

The by’s were in good form. Despite being away from the stage for a few months, Komrad Lenin on guitar, Commandante Che on bass, Prince Igor on Drums and Komrad Anna Karyna on Go-Go Strike Force Mercenary Tactics, pulled off an energetic and rambunctious performance.

Here they are playing the funky little ditty “All Night Dance Party on The Russian Space Station”:

Here they are playing their francophone propaganda piece, “Danse Les Belle Filles Communistes”:

Here they are playing the ditty “Proletariat Surf”:

The Kremlin brought band promotional propaganda to a new level of sublime ridiculousness, and they leave behind a legacy of deft showmanship and rowdy and rollicking serf rock.

Long live the KDPC!