By Keith Walsh
Russia’s Ploho is the most paradoxical band I’ve run across. Not only because their song titles and lyrics are in Cyrillic, which makes them somewhat inscrutable, but because they fall between several genres. The name ‘Ploho’ has a variety of meanings, and I think the most apt meaning is ‘amiss,’ suggesting something out of place.

I’m going with the post punk angle, mostly because of the guitars, but there are strong elements of 80s new wave, including a prominent synth presence, and the use of electronic drums from the era (the handclaps on their latest album are almost certainly from the Roland TR-808.)

Ploho features Victor Uzhakov on guitars and vocals, Igor Starshinov on keyboards, and Andrei Smorgonsky on bass. The bass, guitar and synth melodies work together in ways reminiscent of New Order and The Cure. The vocalist also fits that scheme, with occasional forays into Jim Morrison territory. Cool sounding stuff, I just wish I had lyrics in English to add to the enjoyment. Are they singing about freedom? Despair? Love?

Wikipedia has a detailed entry with most of their recent albums listed in Russian and English, but needs to be updated. They’re on Canada’s Artoffact label. I’ve reached out to Artoffact in the hopes of interviewing Ploho. The best details I’ve found about the band are at this article on regenmag.com

Check out Ploho, and let me know what you think in the comments below.

Ploho on Bandcamp
Ploho on Facebook

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