Всё_CRAZY

Well here we go and I am well out of my comfort zone here so apologies to the band if I don’t do them the justice they deserve for this fantastic album. I first came across Всё Crazy only a month or so ago on the Tribute To The Pogues compilation that we reviewed back at the end of March. The album was mostly bands from eastern Europe and one of those bands was Всё Crazy performing a rarely heard track ‘My Babys Gone’, off the first post-Shane LP Waiting For Herb, and boy in an album full of great tracks it just jumped right out at me. Chasing them up afterwards it seems they had also recently released an album and here it is.

Всё Crazy hail from Belarus which up until 1991 was part of the Soviet Union and their name (pronounced ‘vsio crazy’) translates as ‘All crazy’ and after one listen to ‘По Морям’ I think they may be right… but in a good way! Officially the Republic of Belarus, it is bordered by Russia to the north east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north west. They come from the capital city Minsk and amazingly in this day and age over 40% of Belarus 207,600 square km is forest. During WWII Belarus was devastated losing about a third of its population and more than half of its economic resources. With such a history of tragedy and oppression then it is perhaps no surprise that the celtic-punk scene is booming and along with Всё Crazy keep an eye out for the long established Dzieciuki and newcomers Dohodyaggi.

Всё_CRAZY
Всё CRAZY left to right: Aliaksandr ‘Petrovich’ Hliakau – Bass, Backing Vocals* Mikalai ‘Kondrat’ Kavalikhin – Drums* Liudmila ‘Barrakuda’ Navakouskaya – Mandolin* Aliaksandra ‘Shunya’ Halkouskaya – Vocals* Sergey ‘Sailor’ Lesnevsky – Accordion* Yauhen ‘Horny’ Rakhanski – Guitars* Anton ‘Sir’ Sirotin – Vocals, Guitars* Aleksei ‘Verik’ Voryvodski – Live Sound.

Всё Crazy formed way back in 2002 playing music of various genres, from reggae to blues rock. The core of the band settled down in 2006 following multiple line up changes. In 2012 they released a CD called ‘Телипыч’ (‘Telipych’) which compiled the best of the band from these days but it became a turning point for the band and straight after that Всё Crazy changed course and became a celtic-punk band going on to release an EP titled ‘St Patrick’s Day’ in 2014. As Alex the vocalist says

“We began celebrating St. Patrick’s day in our country about 10 years ago, it was a new experience for us. We found that Irish people have a lot in common with Belarusians, for instance, drinking a lot and eating potatoes! The same similarity we found between celtic and slavic folk tunes. Altogether, it resulted in the music we play today”

‘По Морям’ (pronounced: Po Moryam) translates into English as ‘over the seas’ which is apt as the album is dedicated to countries, like Belarus, that are land locked and live without a sea. Not that that has put them off singing about celtic-punks most popular subject and the album is peppered with sea faring songs. The album was produced by Siarhiej ‘Szloma’ Łabandziewski and the band’s frontman Anton ‘Sir’ Sirotin and

“The starry heavens above me and the moral law within me”

was the guide for Всё Crazy while composing and recording the album but those of a nervous disposition be careful of the sometimes colourful language (mind you unless you speak Russian that won’t matter much). All the songs are sung in Russian, the main language of Belarus but you’d have to be an absolute idiot if you’d let that put you off hearing this fantastic LP.

Bce 2

Now obviously I can’t tell you much about the song subjects but you can get a pretty good idea from the translations of the song titles. We don’t give a shit that that they don’t sing in English as from chatting to Alex from the band its obvious that they could but why should they? Kicking off with ‘Песня рыбака’ (The Fisherman’s Song) and straight away you know you are in for a good time. All your favourite celtic instruments are here as well as a good thrashy rock’n’roll guitar before shouty gang vocals start up and I know that I am going to enjoy the next forty odd minutes. This is followed by ‘Невеста’ (The Bride) with some beautiful female vocals and ‘Домой’ (Coming Home) slows it down a bit but I’m getting a good vibe here.



This is good time music and even though I am sure they are better to see live they have done a great job in transferring their sound. It sounds to be like they added some of their homelands folk music into the mix and it certainly works for me. The vocals are of the raspy, hoarse kind of metally way of ‘singing’ but in a genre not famed for its crooning that should be the least of anyone’s worries! It’s not all breakneck speed and the band prove they can turn their hand to fast and slow as well as fast’n’slow in the same song too. Next is the album title track ‘По морям’ (Over the Seas) an accordion led and a jolly good romp it is too sounding sort of like a eastern European Flogging Molly!



‘Ботинок в жопе’ (The Shoe in the Ass) has a sort of funky ceilidh type of thing going on and is the sort of track you could see breaking through. Maybe they should enter it into the Eurovision Song Contest for Belarus! We are half way through and its all proving that their track on The Pogues comp was no fluke as Всё Crazy rattle along very nicely with ‘Завязал’ (I Quit Drinking) up next and the diversity on this album is what is standing out here for me. По Морям flows together seamlessly even though they change style and tradition from song to song (and sometimes mid song like here) but it doesn’t interrupt the flow of the album at all. Никогда (Never) is the shortest song on the album and strays into country territory somehow. More dual male/female vocals top it off grand and if I did have the tiniest tiniest wee quibble it would be that they could maybe have turned the electric guitar up a wee bit but that is very much a personal thing I’d agree. The album’s sole ballad follows and ‘Потомки правой руки’ (Descendants of the Right Hand) is not quite Poguesy but almost as it builds up and up becoming one of those swirling around the dance floor pints in the air kind of songs. They save the best for last and speed it up for ‘Частушки матросские’ (Sailor’s Limericks) before final song ‘Д.С.П.’ (St. Patrick’s Day) brings the curtain down on this super album.



So ten songs with no covers and over forty minutes of quality celtic-punk music that demands to be heard from all with a interest in celtic music. They have taken celtic music and added their take on it and made something really interesting. We have waxed lyrically before about how wonderful we find it that celtic-punk has gone international over the last few years. Gone are the days when celtic-punk was solely played in the places where the Irish or other Celts settled and these days some of the best bands in the scene are not only from Canada or Australia or the USA but place like Belarus or Indonesia or Brazil. They deserve a fair hearing and we really hope you give them a try you won’t be disappointed. - LondonCelticPunks

We been big fans of Всё_CRAZY (in English- ‘All Crazy’) for a while and Мокрые слухи is their second album and comes only a year and a couple of months after the release of their debut album По Морям. That album was reviewed on these pages here and we had this to say back then

“They have taken celtic music and added their take on it and made something really interesting. We have waxed lyrically before about how wonderful we find it that celtic-punk has gone international over the last few years. Gone are the days when celtic-punk was solely played in the places where the Irish or other Celts settled and these days some of the best bands in the scene are not only from Canada or Australia or the USA but place like Belarus or Indonesia or Brazil. They deserve a fair hearing and we really hope you give them a try you won’t be disappointed.”

The album also landed in the London Celtic Punks Best Album Of 2015 and received favourable mentions across the worldwide celtic-punk media.


left to right: Aliaksandr Hliakau – bass/vocals; Nikalai Kavalikhin – drums; Liudmila Navakouskaya – mandolin; Aliaksandra Halkouskaya – vocals; Sergey Lesnevskiy – accordion; Eugene Rakhanski – guitars; Anton Sirotin – guitar/vocals; Alexey Voryvodsky – sound engineering

Всё Crazy hail from Belarus which up until 1991 was part of the Soviet Union and is bordered by Russia to the north east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north west. They come from the capital city Minsk and has a tragic past. During WWII Belarus was devastated losing about a third of its population and more than half of its economic resources. Of course after the war came occupation by the Russians but the government and people remain on friendly terms with many speaking both Russian and Belarusian.

(Brand new concert video. Great quality and contains a good few songs from the album)



So why then have these band of merry souls decided to take up the music and culture of another country with a tragic past on the other side of the continent? Well Alex from the band told me

“We began celebrating St. Patrick’s day in our country about 10 years ago, it was a new experience for us. We found that Irish people have a lot in common with Belarusians, for instance, drinking a lot and eating potatoes! The same similarity we found between Celtic and Slavic folk tunes. Altogether, it resulted in the music we play today”

Belarus is a land locked country and again as on that debut album there is an inescapable longing both for the sea and alcohol as the two driving forces of the Belarusian people. No wonder they feel at home singing Irish tunes! The title of the album translates as Wet Rumors which is a local phrase for telling someone what they want to hear. Released just a couple of weeks ago it’s not been plain sailing for the band with the inevitable loss of band members as you get more popular and get offered more gigs and touring becomes a necessity. The mandolin player went on maternity leave but can still be heard on this album and two new instruments (violin and flute) appeared as one musician as Inna Perasetskaya-Malakovich joined the ship.

The album launches with ‘Liudmila’ which is a cover of a song by American folk-punk band Harley Poe. Never having heard of them I thought I would check them out and they were OK I suppose but not a fecking patch on Всё_CRAZY!! Hard as nails folk with the punk kept slightly in check and heavy on the accordion. A right knees up of a song with vocals, as on the entire album, sung in Russian but have a real nice sound to them. if you are the kind of person that is put off my celtic-punk not being sung in English then you in the wrong place. Next up is ‘The Factory’ and the first self-penned number. Have to say there is a nice balance of covers here among the bands own material and some interesting ventures within the song and all done with a great deal of style. One thing is for certain these are definitly not straight covers. ‘The Factory’ is about the limitations of man and his attempt to escape his problems through alcohol. A vicious circle. Most of the music here is joyful but there’s a slight menace here. ‘Wet Whores’ is really part one of a song where the second part follows later on in the album. The songs are getting faster and more and more punk is slipping in all time. ‘Mom’ follows and is a cover of a Black Rebel Motorcycle Club song but never having been a fan of them I can’t tell you much except I don’t think they were a folk-punk band and so it seems to me that Всё_CRAZY’s version walks all over there’s. The band have stamped their brand all over it as the song begins as a dirge, Slow and mournful before changing halfway into a upbeat tune with lovely male/female vocals and a gang chorus to die for. The familiar sound of ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky’ makes an appearance and takes us into the albums first traditional celtic-punk tune ‘Over the Mountains (Bugger Off!)’. They do a grand version of The Real McKenzies song and the trad elements are a mixture of Slav and Celt and sound brilliant. Another trad song next and ‘Tired Me Out, Bastards!’ originates from the bleak lives of prisoners in the harsh existence in Siberia. We first became of Всё_CRAZY on the release of the fantastic Tribute To The Pogues compilation that came out in 2015. with twenty-seven bands from over a dozen countries it was hard to spot the standout tracks but their cover of the Jem Finer and Andrew Ranken penned ‘My Baby’s Gone’ was easily among the best tracks on the album. Taken from the underwhelming post-Shane album Waiting for Herb it was a brave choice of Всё_CRAZY to go with one of The Pogues lesser known songs but it completely worked. (Follow the link here to get a free download of Tribute To The Pogues)

(Всё_CRAZY re-recorded the song for the album but here’s the sweary version!)



Unsurprisingly it’s my favourite song of the album. Great m/f vocals again and mandolin and guitars work perfectly together. The unsuccessful search for the road to the sea is next in ‘Road To The Sea’ and is a reference to the topic of death and frailty of all things. You can hear the bones of a sea shanty here in a song that lasts over five minutes. Rather surprisingly the band actually formed in 2002 playing all sorts, from reggae to blues rock. Multiple lineup changes saw the band not settle until the release of an album ‘Телипыч’ (‘Telipych’) which became a turning point for the band. The end of that chapter and they changed course, lucky for us, to celtic-punk. The next track ‘Motorped’ was written back in 2002 but unexpectedly suited the concept of the album, and therefore got a place here. Another corker and another knees up with a hint of bluegrass/country wrapped inside. Nearing the end of the album and ‘Babe On The Shore’ keeps the catchiness and gang vocals going with flute taking the lead here. The final song here is another cover but ‘Some Day (When the Saints…)’ is anything BUT a straight cover and I would bet my house on it being a fan’s live favourite. The song lasts over six minutes and takes in several genres in a kind of well played mayhem.



So I can only give you my opinion on the music and what I have managed to piece together regarding the meaning of the songs. The upbeat sound here belies that many of the songs are permeated with a sorrow. Something else the Belarussians have in common with the Irish so. The violin, whistle/flute and accordion feature strongly here but is well balanced by the guitar. A very interesting album and the mix of folk styles from their home country and ours added to good ol’ fashioned punk rock makes for some absolutely great music. - LondonCelticPunks