[Mister Twister] Мистер Твистер "Мистер Твистер" 1990***

I was visiting the beautiful old town of Amersfort for work, but (of course) still found time to visit the local record shop, where I saw this at the used LP section. Immediately my absurdity alarm bell began ringing: 3 teddy boy style guys posing in front of a wall with Cyrillic graffiti? Made in The USSR? I don't have anything like that in my collection! I wonder what it sounds like... I asked to listen to it, and was convinced after listening to a few seconds of the first song: "Come On!" is a great slice of neo-rockabilly, every bit as good as The Straycats albeit sung in Russian - which makes for a surreal experience. The band do not seem so much concerned with rocking hard or replicating the fifties rock sound (which they do) they're just full of enthousiasm and fun. Their playing is good all around, but on that first listen I especially liked the sax which reminded me of Louis Jordan. On returning home, I googled them, and came across their source of inspiration: If the title Mister Twister reminds us of Chubby Checker (Is it a biiird? Noooo...Is it an aeroplaaane? Noooo...Is it a Twister?) to those growing in the Soviet Union it had a different meaning: Mister Twister was a popular satirical children's poem whose protagonist, an obnoxious and racist American millionaire, was cleverly tricked and punished for his arrogance by a Soviet hotel clerk. 
So the band name is not just American and retro, but also mocking of the communist propaganda of the older Russian generation. Starting out in 1985, Mister Twister quickly became the country's leading representatives of a youth movement called "style" (meaning retro? mod? not sure myself), which explains why their 1990 debut for the state record label Melodiya sold an estimated 1,7 million(!) copies - meaning it's not exactly a rarity. Indeed while the album rarely appears at Western record shops, it can easily be obtained on second hand vinyl from The Russian Federation and other former Soviet Republics. Whether you should get it depends on whether the idea of Russian language rockabilly appeals to you. Purely musically it's good but not exceptional: You either like rockabilly or not, and there's only so much you can do within the genre. There's a bunch of fast tunes that remind me of Gene Vincent, like "Rockabilly-Rock", "Rock-n-Roll Without Validolum", "I Often Hear The Question", and the sole cover "Shake, Rattle & Roll". These give the guitarist the chance to shine, laying those fancy licks thick on the ground. Next to the rockers there are some mid-tempo jazzy numbers ("We`ve Parted", "Blues For J.", "Fat Hands Blues", "Arbat Shuffle"), 60's pop ("By The Blue Sea") and ballads ("Tenderland", the romantic "Moscow Nights") signifying the boys have been listening to a lot of Elvis. I personally prefer the faster songs, but I have to admit that Russian as a language is a more natural fit for ballads. In any case, besides being an interesting curio, this is as good a rock'n'roll record as any made in the West during the same time period. I was quite happy to add it to my collection.

**** for Давай! (Come On!), Mы Расстались (We`ve Parted), Pокабилли-Pок (Rockabilly-Rock), Pок-н-Pолл Без Валидола (Rock-n-Roll Without Validolum), Блюз Пуxлых Pук (Fat Hands Blues), Арбатский Шаффл (Arbat Shuffle), Московские Hочи (Moscow Nights), У Cамого Cинего Mоря (By The Blue Sea)

*** for Блюз Для Ю. (Blues For J.), Рок Bокруг Дискотеки (Rock Around The Discotheque), Shake Rattle & Roll, Bечер Pок-н-Pоллa (Rock-n-Roll Party), Pок-Tерапия (Rock Therapy), Я Часто Cлышу (Bопрос) (I Often Hear The Question)

** for Cтрана Hежности (Tenderland)