This week we’re joined by American artist and academic Rebecca Yurivna to talk about the Russian band Shortparis. Shortparis is a Russian experimental rock band hailing from the city of St. Petersburg. The band was formed in 2012 and musically, the band are quite difficult to catagorise. They take in elements of post-punk, electronic, and avant-garde music with traditional Russian folk melodies and lyrics. Their sound is quite unique, and is characterized by intense vocals, complex instrumentation, and a theatrical stage presence. More recent albums are almost exclusively sung in Russian, with the occasional lapse into English and French peppered throughout their career. Chris is fairly new to this band, as are Mark and Rebecca, so it was fun to get under their skin. We also chat about their political stance, which until the recent Russo-Ukrainian war, was somewhat ambiguous in their music. This often contrasts with their videos, which are more overt in their pro-LGBT+, almost anti-Russian stance. Indeed, they’ve become quite outspoken critics of Russia snice the war. In this episode we go through all of their records whilst also touching on the political situation in Russia today, and take a quick look at some other protest music that has cropped up in Russia since the war. Check out Rebecca’s music here, and give her a wee follow on Instagram here. It was great to have her on the show. Hopefully we can link up again soon! Let us know what you think of Shortparis on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.