Erik & The Wordly Savages – Culture vs. Destiny

I ran across Erik & The Worldly Savages while in the midst of drafting a review for Gogol Bordello’s disappointing Seekers & Finders album.  The passion and energy that Gogol Bordello seemed so reluctant to produce became an alluring element in my introduction to the Serbian folk-punk act.  Premised on a promising rotation of accordion, violin and traditionally influenced Eastern European folk sounds, the energetic sexet feels like a European-based hybrid of The Dreadnoughts meets Butcher Knives.  

With an early EP, previous LP, and surprisingly strong live album, the band has quietly amassed a formidable discography on the lead up to their formal sophomore full length, Culture vs. Destiny.  As the title implies, Erik & The Worldly Savages have a message, specifically one that explores the inroads of social inequalities and the strength of those willing to resist.  Shortly before Culture vs. Destiny’s release the band expressed their frustration with being shut out from touring in the UK on the basis of nationality in the song “21st Century Racism.”  While the song didn’t make it on the album, the message captures the social agenda that Erik & The Worldly Savages fight for on the disc.

For a lively band with rather serious philosophical underpinnings, opener “Hope” ensures that Culture vs. Destiny’s message doesn’t get bogged down with a burden’s weight.  Punctuated by ample horn blasts and a message of resilience, the song is centred around its optimistic title.  Wide eyed frontman Erik Mut asserts that “life is rigged to bleed you dry, no matter how much you may try to hope / look the darkness in the eye, to the day we die, we hope,” to which the song’s final lead out repeats, “but I still got hope.”  The message soon becomes a recurring theme.  In the neighbouring song, “The Asylum,” the band speaks to the mind-numbing sameness demanded by mainstream society, and the clinical efforts to sedate and reform personality “flaws.”  Anthemic vocal accompaniment makes the song easy to repeat in agreeance, as later echoed in the easily singable album closer, “Take Me Away.”  The steady accordion chatter of songs like “Lost & Confused” is heavily aligned with the gypsy-punk mashups of Gogol Bordello, but venture further into exotic instrumentals in ensuring their own distinctive footprint.  Likewise, “Change Yourself” infuses a heavy dose of traditional Eastern European folk instrumentals – the type you might expect from an old time Serbian folk festival.  The result an exciting album that succeeds by entwining heritage, culture and geography like only punk rock can.

Overall, Erik & The Worldly Savages present a passionate case for counterculture in a world of xenophobia and increasingly closed borders.  Culture vs. Destiny embraces an identity and provides perspective from outsider eyes, affording a voice to the all too often silenced cultural “other.”  An obvious synergy runs through Culture vs. Destiny’s instrumental fusion, uniting “foreign” influences under a punk rock banner.  Erik & The Worldly Savages may not be able to enter the UK in their entirety, but there’s little doubt that Culture vs. Destiny’s message will permeate borders and invigorate citizens globally.