Houses are Silent

Jun 13

Although I don’t normally write about contemporary music on this blog, this Belarusian band deserves a mention, as a delightful throwback to Soviet new wave / post-punk. The band’s called Молчат дома — “Houses are Silent,” or perhaps “The Buildings are Silent” (it’s always worth pointing out to Russian learners that although дом is often translated as “house,” it more typically calls to mind an apartment block, of the sort in which most Russians (and of course the entire ex-Soviet Union) live. I’ll post a few songs here from the band’s excellent 2018 album, Этажи (“Floors” — as in, the floors of a building). You can hear the entire album here, or on just about any streaming service, as far as I can tell.

Their stuff is rather dark, and will certainly remind you of some of Viktor Tsoi’s gloomier songs — not to mention other lesser-known bands from the 80s, such as Неоретро, Центр, or my old favorite Телевизор. As a child of the 80s myself (well, I was born in 1978), I’m a real sucker for this kind of music, and it’s fun to see a contemporary band hearken back to this important sub-genre of late Soviet rock.

By the way, if dark synth pop with a wicked sense of humor is your thing, check out one of my favorites — John Maus. For example: Touchdown. Hey Moon. Cop Killer. Bennington. I’ve been listening to this shit all week while painting my house.

Or, check out Drab Majesty… Cold Souls, The Other Side, etc.

Postscript: Speaking of synth music, I recently found a nice new live version of Gary Numan’s classic “Are Friends Electric?” (here’s the original).

Waves

And you’ll show me how the earth is crying
The rumbling of the thunder will tear us to pieces
There, where death will be,
There I will be too
Don’t follow me
Your time is now

Preserving our happiness,
Bear it onward, into a new age,
Through the inanity of daily life and social problems
Having preserved yourself in hundreds of card-indexes,
Blaze a new trail and disappear completely

You force me
To sing songs about nature
You force me
To believe in your God

On my earth
The weather’s bad
You force me
To believe in your God

You force me
To sing songs about nature
You force me
To believe in your God

On my earth
The weather’s bad
You force me
To believe in your God

Note: the video below features footage from the abandoned city of Pripyat, home of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.