«Our critics sound off about this week`s shows» — Philadelphia Daily News

Our critics sound off about this week`s shows

POP…plus

What`s all this fuss about Russia`s «most dangerous band»? That was a title bestowed on Mumiy Troll in the 1990s by the Communist Party chief in their hometown of Vladivostok, for the band`s crimes of getting kids all pumped up, thinking reform and wearing funny clothes. But we`re sensing maybe something has been lost in translation, and the passage of time. A concert album from the start of this decade captured Mumiy Troll mostly in earnest, folk-guitar-strumming style. Nowadays, the four-piece is cranking harder (they call it «Rockapops») throwing in fragmented English lyrics and heavily into the remix thing, doubtless to rouse fans onto the dance floor. And front guy Ilya Lagutenko has gone so mainstream, he voiced the monkey in the Russian-language version of «Kung Fu Panda.» This show should be fun for fans of the Gogol Bordello/DeVotcKa/Slavic Soul Party scene, and any native Russians looking for a taste of home.

Jonathan Takiff