Belarussian Punk — Songs of Protest

Belarussian civil unrest in August-September of 2020 spiked interest in music of this country among Ukrainian musicians and listeners. So if you were wondering what is worth your attention –199 we offer you some local bands to check out!

Noting, we will not include bands like Ляпіс Трубецкой and Brutto in our list as they have got enough spotlight in other media outlets. In this article we will focus on Belarussian punk scene, which is very vocal about political issues since the very 00’s. And those punk songs perfectly reflect the struggling of Belarussian people against the dictatorial regime. Furthermore, many mentioned bands performed in Ukraine, which makes us closer in some way.

Let’s start with the classic. Contra La Contra’s song "Из черной резины сделана власть" ("Power is made of black rubber") is painfully accurate when you look at how riot police treat protestors. "Резиновые пули" ("Rubber bullets") song together with "Лука заебал" ("Fucking tired of Luka") follow the same mood, we recommend to overhear this whole release. The album called "Ни слова о политике!" ("Not a single word about politics!") is filled with hatred towards regime. It is also one of the oldest releases in our list – the album was released in 2002 and it is important for the understanding that the highlighted topics are not new for Belarusians.

Overall, Contra La Contra is one of the most famous Belarussian punk bands and one of the most politically charged. Musicians from the city of Grodno managed to perform in Lithuania, Poland, Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, as well as to release music on cassettes and vinyl.

Yet there were bands on Belarussian punk scene before Contra La Contra. Hate To State is anarcho-punk band from Minsk which is rightfully praised to be scene legends and pioneers of DIY movement in Belarus. Their first and only demo "Hate Demo" (1998) is considered a classic. 

Deviation band is one more band to be called "pioneers" of Belarusian punk culture; collective was formed in 1993. Their songs are very politicized, their message is antifascist, antitotalitarian, full of criticism about police forces and the "eternal" President Oleksandr Lukashenko. In fact, their first full length is called "Lukaschenko … Uber Alles" and was full of critics to the "album hero". But their second full-format album gained more popularity and is strongly recommended by us – "хуй вам, або таталітарызм не пройдзе" ("Fuck you, or totalitarism won’t work"). 

"Pod controlem" ("Under control") by Antiglobalizator is another album from far 2002. Antiglobalizator’s lyrics are straightforward and politicly charged alike Deviation band has it. "Pod controlem" song which gave its name to the album is about government control over personal freedom.

Their first demo called "Ёбоннный политик" ("Fucking politician") came out in 2000, and a year later they’ve opened own DIY punk club in the ordinary garage – Shit Sound Shock Club. However, it had closed its doors forever after a short time of activity due to pressure of Belarussian authorities.

Noble causes of Contra La Contra were continued by IKNOW band, it is formed in 2005th and is often associated with the first one because of similar female vocals. Same antitotalitarian lyrics can be heard in "Эй, мент" ("Hey, cop!") or "А судьи кто?" ("Who's to judge?"). Their lyrics also cover total lies theme, personality destroying, and hate fueled not only by politicians but also by TV, media, etc. IKNOW was formed by experienced members of several punk/hardcore bands what made them one of the leading bands withing Belarussian scene. They were also released on vinyl.

Belarusian band Bagna from Grodno is familiar to Ukrainian punks as they played at top one underground fests like Burn the Scene for Fun and Mayak Fest. Bagna is showcasing lyrics in Belarussian and raises questions like "как оставаться собой, не попав за решетку?" ("How to remain yourself when you’re behind bars?") while stating that "система нас топчет под марши своей пропаганды" ("the system tramples us during the propaganda marches").

One more Belorussian band Monday Suicide also played at Mayak Fest in 2014th. By the way, Monday Suicide was formed by musicians from Contra La Contra, Bagna, I Hope You Die, so the quality is on point. To be true, it is one of the features characterizing Belarussian punk scene – the same people managed to play in numerous different projects.

I Hope You Die is a melodic hardcore band from Grodno. Their full-length "Превращая Свободу В Рабство" ("Turning Freedom Into Slavery") is about propaganda, tyranny, borders and freedom (or lack of it)..

Straightedge metallic hardcore band Resurgam performed in Kyiv for multiple times. Their lyrics are in Belarussian only, a bit more poetic and less straightforward than the ones of IKnow, but they also call for action, to fight for freedom and independency.

D-beat punx The Destroyers from Minsk sing about life in totalitrian state, the system and its suffocating laws which slayer individuals and punk romantic in the "dead country".

My Dog’s a Cat are veterans of Belarusian hardcore. The collective was formed by members of Appleshout, Pull Out An Eye, Kung Fu Devils, etc. They sing mostly in English. Band’s merch picturing Lukashenko with a bullet between the eyes and lyrics like written below show band’s opinion on their government:

"Wish he’s dead today
Necrology on the front page
Wish he’s dead today
The only hope for change" 

Devil Shoots Devil had appeared in 2004th on the outskirts of Minsk. Their song "Я не верю ворам" ("I don´t trust thieves") fully demonstrates band’s attitude towards the Lukashenko regime. And once again we can hear female vocals in this song, unlike on Ukrainian punk scene where female punk vocals remain rare. Belarussian punk scene always had a strong female presence.

Female-fronted straight edge hardcore band Jiheart proves the last statement with their album "Velvet dictatorship" of 2005th. Band has left an old website for us to read where curious ones may find lyrics (very political, of course) and some reflections on the situation in the country.

"Under such conditions, the existence of any civic initiative, to put it mildly, is not supported by the government. Every group with more than 100-200 members is automatically under the control of the police and the KGB. Our punk hardcore scene is in this system. We claim about our political position, but any attempt to practically do something remains in our minds or in conversations with each other. I ask myself why, but I can't find the answer. Maybe we are used to our status as prisoners of the system; maybe we are losing the art of independent action?" – one of the texts says.

One of the youngest bands in this selection is ЗВЕРЬхСОБАКА band from Stolin. Regarding lyrics, it is recommended to analyze their 2015’s demo, where the meaning is not hidden behind beautiful metaphors and hits right in the face:

"День после выборов
Как день сурка
Каждый раз
Одна и таже хуита
Чай с вареньем
Усатое падло
Поле бульбы
Клюшка и шайба"

____________

"The day after the election
Like a Groundhog Day
Same shit
Every time
Tea with jam
Bastard with mustache
Potato field
Stick and puck"

Melodic hardcore band of Gomel called Dive to Survive seems to have foreseen the future in their track "Haiyan":
"Я не забуду тот день, когда я понял, что ты. Никогда! Не сможешь просто уйти всеми забытый старик."("I will not forget the day when I realized that you. will Never! just leave, forgotten old man."). 

Another Gomel’s finest – Sorta, the melodic hardcore collective with politicized lyrics that has played in Ukraine for many times, in Kyiv, Zhytomyr and Kharkiv. The following lyrics can be found in their song "RB1996":

"Объявить себя богом легко
Трудно заставить других в это верить.
Шеренги ментов, один полубог
И тысяча дней под колпаком."

____________

"It is easy declaring oneself to be god
It's harder to get others believing it.
Rows of cops, one demigod
And a thousand days under the surveillance." 

Appleshout is the old Belarussian hardcore band that was formed in 2004 and sang about current issues not only in Belarus but also around the world – Lukashenko's dictatorship, neo-Nazism, lying politicians, wars and more. One more band from Minsk that shared participants with Appleshout is worth mentioning here – Pull Out An Eye. The latter sang about homophobia, neo-Nazism as well as about totalitarianism, bureaucracy, and so on. And we leave Brud Krou, for your independent research (musicians from Appleshout, Jiheart, Hate to state and others.).

Looking at the cover of "Born Under A Bad Sign" album, Unsilent Minsk hardcore band, some may draw a conclusion that it is stylized as the coat of Belarus arms with barbed wire, black aforementioned rubber of the cop batons…
Their lyrics are in English and are the example of figurative motivation to fight for change without straightforward calls to overthrow the government.

ЯTo sum up, since the 1990’s Belarussian punks have been singing a lot about police terror, the pressure of the system under the guise of legality (and in fact lawlessness), closed borders (musicians were not allowed to go out of the country for senseless reasons), and in fact, how everyone got enough of President Oleksandr Lukashenko. Some express it literally, some hide behind the complex images, but it is simply impossible not to notice the pervasive themes.

Photo — Wikipedia