A Brief Look into the "Brit-Rock" Period of the DIY Indie Rock Scene in Russia (2007-2009)
	2026 February 08
	Current Mood:	bad nostalgia
	Now Playing:	"Cheese People" by Cheese People

This post was initially published on cohost on June 17th, 2023. I finally decided to republish it in my blog because I've just learned that one of the bands from this post, Bajinda Behind the Enemy Lines, had a reunion with the original vocalist last year and recently recorded this live studio session where they played their old songs.

This post is about the Russian "brit-rock" wave, aka Russian indie rock bands singing in English that were active during the short period of time between 2007 and 2009.

Initially, I just wanted to make a music mix featuring some of these bands that I used to listen to in high school and play on my improvised internet radio show (that only my friends listened to), but then I realised that I would need to introduce this whole thing somehow.

But first, here's my music mix:

Of course, not every band presented in this post considered themselves to be brit-rock / brit-pop ones. Based on the information that can be found on wikipedia / last.fm, their music influences varied broadly.

Some of these bands started playing much earlier than 2007, some only existed during this period, and some only formed during that time and then went on to prosper beyond it. But one thing, in my opinion, still united them into this short wave — the rapidly growing popularity of contemporary British indie rock bands, such as The Kooks, Klaxons, Foals, Arctic Monkeys (the list can go on and on) and the following desire of Russian media corporations to cash in on it.

Around 2008 one of the top commercial radio stations in the country — Radio Maximum — started actively incorporating Russian indie rock bands into their commercial rock dominated tracklists, as well as sponsoring tours for some of them. Around the same time one of the biggest music festivals in the country — Пикник Афиши — started booking Russian indie rock bands to perform alongside Late of the Pier and These New Puritans, and it would eventually become (for a few years) the biggest event to carry the torch for Russian contemporary independent music. I think at some point the only alternative music TV channel in Russia — A-One — also tried to pivot from emocore / alternative rock to these new popular music trends (Klaxons were headliners at their Rock Alternative Music Prize in 2008), until 2011, when it became a TV channel dedicated strictly to hip hop culture.

I personally think that 2007-2009 was the brightest period for Russian bands with English song lyrics, because this conglomeration of bands under one huge popularity wave happened right before the popular opinion that "singing in Russian is cringe" would finally start dying out, and right after the blazing emo wave when people were seeking new things and were becoming a fresh audience for all these music collectives.

Banana Princess (Moscow)

Banana Princess is a frickadelic rock band from Moscow, Russian Federation. They started developing their fans around 2005, it is 3 banana boys and 2 subtile girls showing off in glamorous way with high-pitched killier scream on the top. Always loud, funny and grotesque. And the music is beyond outrageous.

- last.fm

Chicken Shampoo (Moscow)

Chicken Shampoo is a five piece indie/metal/new wave band formed in Moscow, Russia.

Chicken Shampoo define themselves as purveyors of "dance rock," a term rarely used by English speakers. A quick search online reveals that the phrase is more commonly found among translated, aesthetically challenged projects, trying in some way to marry two incompatible elements.

Toward the end of 2008 they released their self-named, six track EP.

- last.fm

The White Trainers Community (Perm)

The Band was formed in 2003 under the name Bank Holiday . It was your standard four-piece and included one more guitarist than the current line-up. At the time, the music played was inspired by Oasis, Blur, the Verve, Supergrass and other bands of the so-called Brit-Pop genre. They played several gigs in Perm City , Russia , and became very popular with a youth that were disillusioned with Russian music. After cutting their first demo, The Band s handiwork was featured on compilation albums released by Matchbox Recordings and the Bliss/Aquamarine Indie Fanzine. In 2004, The Band relocated to London and successfully broke up there for more than a year. After returning to Perm they started gigging regularly again and recording new material. They soon realised that their sound and tastes had moved on from Brit-Pop, and they decided to pare down their line-up to include just one guitar. The remaining band members began to follow the growing influence of bands like the Jam, the Clash, the Kinks, the Libertines, the Who, Small Faces, the Specials, Madness, etc. They also had a great interest in modern Indie-Rock . The Band was renamed the White Trainers Community and changed its course from Brit-Pop to something that could best be described as a mixture of Indie and Mod Revival. The White Trainers Community split their time between London and Perm now, and will be performing a UK Tour in Summer 2007.

- last.fm

On-The-Go (Tolyatti)

On-The-Go is a band from Togliatti, Russian Federation formed in April 2007

Band was formed by two brothers, Yura and Maxim Makarychev. Their first release was the self-titled album with a dance-punk sound.
In 2010 they have released single "In The Wind" , significantly different from the first album. Release included two tracks: In The Wind and The Whaler. Slow and smooth guitar, an incredible voice and melancholic atmosphere.
Afterwards, in 2011, band released 5-song EP "One Spark", which is a continuation of the "In The Wind" single in the sound and mood.

On-The-Go are:
Yura Makarychev - vocals
Maxim Makarychev - guitar, vocals
Zhenya Merkushev - keyboards
Dima Midborn - bass
Grisha Dobrynin - drums

- last.fm

Everything Is Made In China (Moscow)

Everything Is Made in China (usually abbreviated EIMIC) is an indietronica band from Russia formed in 2005. Their style has shoegaze and post-rock influences. In 2008 they were named "one of the most promising post-rocks bands" by the Russian edition of Rolling Stone.

They have frequently toured internationally, their most recent European appearance has been at the 2014 Waves Vienna, where they were named "one of the currently most popular indie bands in Russia" by the organizers.

- everybodywiki

Greenwich Village (Nizhny Novgorod)

Greenwich Village are a squire-rock band formed in 2007 in blurred town.

- last.fm

Conspirators (Kazan, Tatarstan)

Conspirators are 4-piece indie band from Kazan, Russian Federation.

- last.fm

The Bright Sparks (Nizhny Novgorod)

Band members:
Karl - Vox, Guitar. He's creative “nuclear” of the band, who always comes up with new ideas, concerning the song texts, principal guitar parts and many other things.
Cary - Drums. He can play anything what is required by a certain style. Nor has he problems with arrangements.
Christian - Bass - a young but very promising guy).
Jane - Keyboards, back-ups - sings and plays smooth and cool. The band members attach much significance not only to the music they play and the songs they sing but also to the way they present themselves. Thanks to clear understanding of their own art, the audience gave them a very big hand at the first concert already. The band received favorable reviews in papers, on the radio and every next concert the number of their listeners is gradually growing. Their records in the net have spread very quickly and found their fans not only in the homeland but also abroad.

- last.fm (this bio represents the late band lineup after parting ways with their first vocalist)

Ok Vinyl (Ulyanovsk)

Hello. We are OK Vinyl, we are from Lenin’s Motherland and we play the music.

- last.fm

Мои Ракеты Вверх (Moscow)

Мои Ракеты Вверх (Moj Rakety Vverh or Moj rakety) is an indie rock band from Moscow, Russia. The band has 4 LPs, s\t, "Nuclear Weapon Mushroom Potato Chips", "Humanaut", "Listen to Me" and one EP "Nightmaremars" so far. They've already been signed by Smashed records in Australia and in Holland.

- last.fm

Cheese People (Samara)

Cheese People are the heroes of the loudest hype in a present-day Russia – suddenly this quartet of bashful, unremarkable students from the banks of Volga river became the most fashionable disco-punk band in the country.

Their debut self-titled CD is a no-budget self-produced record, but it sounds more powerful and groovy than lots of all major hits. Due to the felicitous combination of catchy melodies, absurd lyrics, the intricate work with samples and unusual meow-style vocal by Olya Chubarova, the band now has all the chances to become a first international independent hit-breaker from Russia since TaTu.

Some reviewers have compared Cheese People' music with Cansei de Ser Sexy, Datarock or New Young Pony Club – and it's really hard to believe (but it's true) that all of these tracks have been recorded in 2006, when Anton and Olya had absolutely no chance to hear these bands – actually, Cheese People have been influenced by Prodigy, Gloria Gaynor, Jamiroquai and other mainstream stuff.

Fortunately, Cheese People don't waste their time anymore and already seek for an international partnership – the Japanese edition of their debut CD (with a bonus-remix by Gari) is out 17.08.2009 at FabTone Records. The next LP is due to be finished and released later this year.

- last.fm

InWhite (Moscow)

InWhite is a Russian rock band from Moscow formed in 2008. The band's unique for rock music sound is achieved by using keys as the main instrument instead of guitar.

The band was formed at the beginning of 2008 when Yulia Kryukova (vocals, song lyrics) invited Dmitri Yemelyanov (keys, composition, arrangement), who previously worked with Esthetic Education, Mara, Kornei, and others, to a test rehearsal. In April InWhite played several pilot shows in its reduced lineup, after which Dmitri invited drummer Evgeny Bordan and bassist Denis Kuzmenko to join the band.

In June 2008, came out their Demo Album which included 4 songs in English and 4 songs in Russian. In summer of the same year, the band played several successful shows in Russia and Ukraine. In September 2008, a music video for the song "Closer", which the band members filmed and edited themselves, was released.

At the end of 2009, InWhite recorded a mini-album "In White Ship". Starting from February 2010, the band has been putting out songs from "Kids Album", which was finished by the end of the year, on the internet. This album of songs for children became their first release in Russian instead of English.

In 2011, a mini-album "Waiting For You" was released. In 2012, the band released a full-length album "Neverland".

After the band's break-up, Yulia Kryukova formed a new collective Julia Smiles, which released its debut album "What We've Been" in 2017.

- wikipedia (roughly translated by me)

Bajinda Behind the Enemy Lines (Samara)

«Bajinda Behind the enemy lines» - a unique Russian band gathered two years ago. Since that time the guys have created a great and imposing musical material that will definitely interest both: the most sophisticated critics and the general public favourably accepting modern western trends brought to the domestic stage. A very special style created by the band has a propensity for indie-rock but still one can not describe it by giving the name of a single trend in modern music. Yet to determine the musical proximity to the well-known styles it should be said that the musicians grasped the creative work of such musical bands as Placebo and New Order in rock, U.N.K.L.E. in trip-hop, SPANK ROCK, N.E.R.D and THE STREETS in hip-hop as the most valuable material existing in world’s music. The creative conception of «Bajinda Behind the enemy lines» - the active mixing of different elements of different genres, traditions in the network of western culture on the border of intellectual “alternative” music and pop cliche; (that is called NINJA POP + KARATE ROCK!) formed under the influence of everything happening in modern culture and in pop music as its most active part. The musicians of «Bajinda Behind the enemy lines» attain an especially high for a Russian band quality of sound; they aim at creating a unique mood. The technical side of music is subordinated to it: the rhythm of the vocal with a delay (dub) effect is almost completely synchronized with the furious drums sometimes having dancing niggaz sound and is kept up by the tough aggressive bass as if pulled out from a drum’n’bass party supplemented with a rough distortion of the guitar and trance and trip-hop sounds of the piano, organ and synthesizer. The charismatic vocal sometimes sweet, sometimes impudent, sometimes shocking flavours to this complicated and interesting cocktail. By now Bajinda has released the debut EP «Ah!/When Yeahhh!!!» (2006 - «Weak Pulse Records»). A new full-fledged album is to appear in the nearest future, but it’s already possible to hear some of the songs from it at concerts.

- last.fm