The perfect antitode to Beyonce. Every now and then something completely brilliant comes along and reminds you that you were bored out of your skull without even realising it.

The music industry tends to get a bit nervous about things that don't sit in pigeon holes nicely. Honestly, they must have had a Double Andrex moment when Gogol Bordello first exploded onto the scene. It's world music, but it's punk. No, it's dub. It's latino. No it's cabaret...

It's mind blowing. It has enough energy to power a small Ukrainian city without all that nasty messing about with fallout shelters. The wiki article on Gogol Bordello mentioned that Phil Jupitas described the band as "The Clash having a fight with the Pogues in Eastern Europe." and that just about summed it up for me on the first few listens too.

I was originally going to review something else entirely. Trouble is, having put this on my MP3 player I simply haven't had a day go by in the last two weeks that I haven't played it through at least once.

Put this portable party through your earpieces and you're life becomes a Tarantino soundtrack. Even if you're not a really cool gangster.

So what's so good about it? Simply put, it's completely solid musicianship. As tight as anything I've ever heard, but with as much energy as an out-of-control live set.  The blend of discordant fiddles, accordions, latin guitar and dub beats mixes with the manic, tuneless screech that is Eugene Hutz' lead vocal.  I've not heard a singer so far away from "normal" since Gonzo from the Muppets.

But there's something about the sheer musicality of the band that keeps it in my head all day long. While Huddersfield Town were busy losing against Yeovil on Saturday I was busy listening to "Think Locally. Fuck Globally". What is odd about this is that I'd left my MP3 player in the boot of my car.

If you like your music so raw it leaves a pool of blood on your CD rack, you'll like this. If you'd rather pick your musical entertainment from what ever Tesco decides to discount this week, then this isn't the right album for you.

Credibility: 85%

Musicality: 90%

Energy: 95%

Ease of Listening: 30%

Variety: 20% 

Overall Quality: 90%

Pro: Mad as a fish and just as fragrant

Con: Starts to sound a bit samey after a few hours 

Related:

• Gogol Bordello Official Site
• Gogol Bordello Wikipedia Entry