Balalaikas and guslis and bayans, oh my! Just kidding. While I admit Russian Folk-Electroclash (Folklash?) has a pleasant ring to it, Soviet’s sound is more than a few clicks from anything one might describe as “conventional.”

The first time I listened to Soviet I thought there could be only one explanation: they were either from Europe or from the 80’s. Nothing else could justify in my mind what feat of nature might result in their creation. I was wrong on both counts: they’re not from Europe, nor are they from the 80’s, but, oh, don’t they wish they were.

Soviet - Breakdown

With its cuddly clapping and several appealing riffs, I find it hard to imagine this song escaping the ears of music supervisors worldwide. Perhaps it was in a commercial by Honda or Nokia some years back, or something more far-reaching than an HIV awareness ad (The Books - Tokyo) but less notorious than, oh, a Hummer commercial (The Books - That Right Ain’t Shit).

The thing is I’m not terribly fond of their album as a whole, but the gems on it breathe unlike anything I’ve whiffed from this genre in a while. They live, throb, pulse and otherwise thump in a way that’s guaranteed to induce hip gyration and bobbing heads, and while a good deal of so-called modern “hip-hop” can yield the former, it’s those bobbing heads that appeal to me ever so much.

Soviet – L’Objectif

This song is more Broken Social Scene than Fischerspooner, and more Air than O.M.D. You can taste the energy of their live show even on a relatively downtempo track such as this. Despite the stigma associated with the turn-of-the-century synthpop revival/electroclash emergence (well, go on, you do better), the sounds produced by this NYC quintet are downright enjoyable if nothing else. It doesn’t matter whether they sound like Depeche Mode on “Commute,” or if the opening seconds of “Marbleyezed” deceive me into singing LCD Soundsystem’s “Tribulations” (which came after anyway). I’m having a good time. I’m bobbing my head and shaking my hips. I’m making eyes at the boy across the room in the AFX shirt, and life is good, damnit. Life is good.

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