The Daily Spin: Golem - Fresh Off Boat

09/12/08 11:05am

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

Golem are an awesome klezmer-punk band from Brooklyn. They opened for The Walkmen on Wednesday night (our review of that show is here). I've been searching for this CD for over a year and it's impossible to find, but since Golem were in town this week, that meant they had merch in tow, so my girlfriend bought me a copy of their sophomore album, Fresh Off Boat, their sophomore album.

Golem are kind of like Gogol Bordello, but they sing in Yiddish (in addition to Russian, French, Ladino and English) a lot of the time. There's also some Hebrew that makes its way into their songs — "Golem Hora" is definitely Hora worthy and features an awesome breakdown into the traditional "Hava Nagila," which is reworked a bit with some lyrics about drinking too much tequilla. Then there's the hilarious "Warsaw Is Khelm," which features The Dresden Dolls' Amanda Palmer and is about a man who takes a "trip" to Warsaw (or at least thinks he does) and is too stupid to realize that he hasn't actually left his hometown. Plus, their musicianship is impeccable.

If you're into klezmer-punk, "Gypsy punk," or whatever you want to call it, pick this up.

Released: 2006
Label: JDub

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