Torba-na-kruche: The Lasting Appeal of an Unrealizable Dream

If memory serves us correctly, this is the third occasion we’ve turned to Torba-na-kruche for extended consideration. Each time, we feel obliged to quickly explain the band’s name: it’s the Russian translation of “Bag-End,” Tolkien’s famous residence in Hobbiton. With that out of the way, we can move on to the fact that the group recently celebrated ten years together. That decade began in the city of Kirov, shown here and approximately 500 miles east of Moscow – in other words, further into the country’s deepening forests… And indeed lumber, together with transportation, has long been the major industry of Kirov (or, as it used to be known before the Soviet Union, Viatka).

Now, more than 800 years after its foundation, Kirov has acquired the strange title of “City of Twins,” since  – for unexplained reasons – residents are responsible for an unnaturally high frequency of multiple births. Perhaps inspired by this same productive spirit, Torba-na-kruche threw local caution to the wind and started their professional work in distant St Petersburg. In fact, they did so with such success that many fans consider the “northern capital” to be the band’s hometown.

On the heels of these efforts, a debut album appeared in 2001, which – bolstered by non-stop touring – then allowed for a modest Scandinavian series of gigs in 2004. These spiraling circles of influence have led this month to the appearance of the band’s fourth album, entitled “Nesbytochnaia” (”Unrealizable”). Although the CD’s title-track makes it clear that this adjective refers to a dream – and even more specifically to dreams of a certain young woman – the group also includes a definition of the term in their liner notes. It is taken from a well-respected Russian dictionary of the 19th century: “Unrealizable. That which cannot be; cannot become; is inadmissible or impossible. Undoable; prohibited; disallowed; unfeasible; not executable – yet desired more than anything on earth.”

Like a cigarette – when stared down by three non-smokers.

When combined with a few additional sentences from these new PR materials, even greater clarity is possible, especially for those listeners who are new to the band. “This CD marks an absolutely new phase of development for Torba-na-kruche, whilst being – at the same time – a classic Torba release, with a trademark, instantly recognizable sound. This is a recording about things that are ineffable, about a vanishing peace and quiet. It’s about the unknown, about the stars… and about you, too. ‘Unrealizable’ as a whole forms a beautiful, melancholy fairy-tale.”

The opening line here, whatever its stereotypical leanings, is key. The reason why a PR rep might define the album as – somehow! – different and yet constant is because Torba-na-kruche really do sit between two musical traditions. Russia is a nation where bands of the late Soviet period, focused as they were on issues of moral rectitude, almost never collaborate today with groups that appeared after 1991. Torba, however, combine elements of both…

…and do so with such ease, they could compose with their eyes shut.

To begin with, the band’s name alone references a book of social (and mythical!) significance for late-Soviet youth, whilst their sound is close enough to modern influences to attract significant airplay today. Lyrically, their greatest debt to the past comes also from a sense of Tolkien-fueled romance, a yearning – as we’re told – for some ineffable, vanishing ideal. Much as the PR texts suggest, therefore, a core theme of the band’s songs is some state of being that is constantly promised, or comes quietly into being… yet is never fully realized. Because this same yearning is expressed on “Nesbytochnaia” with greater clarity and earnestness than ever, we have – therefore – a lyrical spirit that’s “classic” and yet novel.

In fact, the CD’s one-word title is even an admission that such vague hopes will never be realized… and still appetite or ardor endure. With desire running beyond logic and likelihood, the band’s romantic credo is given its full, “melancholy, and magical expression.”

This trademark spirit of being somehow “carried away” by ineffable flows of old-school romance was used in some other promo-materials recently, tied specifically to the release of “Nesbytochnaia.” They concerned one of the band’s guitarists, who – by accident or mystical design – confused the train platforms in St Petersburg at a time when he was supposed to heading for Kirov (below) – and the band’s showcase concert for the new CD. As a result of Lady Luck’s involvement, he started traveling slowly in the wrong direction. Everybody else in the band was on the right train. It took several minutes for this realization to take full effect, by which time – of course – everybody was in motion.

The guitarist began running back and forth throughout the train, looking for an emergency brake. Would he find one – or was an active role in fate’s machinations also something “unrealizable”?

Only in the third carriage was a handbrake found, and the guitarist yanked it downwards – which simply set off an horrific screeching sound throughout the train. The carriages ground to a halt – and the unlucky musician used the opportunity to jump down to the tracks unnoticed. He broke into a run and headed back in the general direction of the Petersburg railway station. When he arrived, huffing and puffing, he barely managed to find a different locomotive heading for Kirov – where, with some delay, he did reach the stage and play with his bandmates. Barely on time…

A recent interview with the press in Kirov gave perfect expression to these degrees of self-determination amid fate’s network of one-way passages. Torba’s vocalist, Maks Ivanov, spoke on the phone from Ukraine: “The concerts down here have gone really well! People have been waiting for us 5-7 years… they came from Kiev, from Belgorod, just to hear our songs. Even though it’s way colder down here in Ukraine than it is in St Petersburg, we all left with a ton of positive emotions. Personally I was shocked that everybody knew the words to our songs – verbatim. They knew the famous stuff, the not-so-famous materials – plus all kinds of things both old and new. Everyone was singing along in a really friendly way. It was so cool!”

These observations came at a time just before the album’s release, when the tracks were being sent off to London for mastering. Would this same spirit of consolation transfer to foggy Albion? Ivanov replied: “It’ll be interesting to see whether the guys in England have anything to say about our songs – considering that they don’t know what we’re singing about. Whatever happens, I am convinced that people here at home will really appreciate the quality of our UK mastering.” In other words, in terms of sound quality, values are international. In terms of lyrical content and worldview – regarding some “unrealizable” essence in life, things remained profoundly local.

People in Russia and Ukraine wanted to hear musical “fairy-tales” of a yearning that goes beyond “what’s realizable.” They wanted songs of hope, come what may, to which everybody knew the words – and could sing along. The kind of songs that turn a crowd into kindred spirits within 3 minutes. “We’ve got such a jam-packed concert list that it’s tricky for me to say where we’ll be playing! People give us a call, they wait for a while… and we turn up! True, given the current economic crisis, quite a few shows are canceled because venues are closing down. All the same, though, we’re happy to turn up and play wherever concert organizers can stage an event. Plus, of course, it goes without saying that for us to perform in Kirov is nothing but pleasure!”

What songs would people hear in the band’s hometown? “There’ll be new material that’s being debuted, plus some things that we’ve not really played anywhere before. All the same, the majority of songs will be known to our fans. These’ll be things they’ve heard at other concerts – maybe even at some of our acoustic shows in people’s apartments!” All the way from St Petersburg to Kiev, from stadiums to old-school Soviet “apartment gigs” (involving a sofa and two guitars), Torba-na-kruche continue to provide a consoling (even inspirational) narrative of some heartfelt, patently unrealizable ideal. It is, paradoxically, held in such high regard precisely because it will never come to be. According to the dictionary quoted above in the definition of “nesbytochnaia,” Slavic notions of “dearly held” values are often relative to their feasibility. Values that stand no chance at all are loved the most; lost causes win the day.

According to that same logic, if you wish to understand the core elements of a Russian worldview, don’t ask an Englishman. Instead, download this impressively stubborn CD, go to a Russian train station – and get on the wrong train. The longer you can keep your hands away from the emergency brake, the closer you’ll be to whatever inspires a collection of songs like “Nesbytochnaia.” A collection, in other words, of sung stories that came into being through a celebration of states that… cannot come into being.

Download music and images from this site to your smartphone!

Go to www.cloudtrade.com and look for us under far_from_moscow

Next Page »