The Ukrainians are a British post-punk traditional music band, with an obviously unique sound. I cannot remember how I found the album that introduced me to them but before you could just download or stream music, you had to buy records or tapes or compact discs. Finding anything outside of the US musical mainstream meant finding off the beaten path record stores where you could find imports and bootlegs.
Once we all got online in the 1990s, the task became significantly easier because you could easily search for music around the world, and so that’s how I think I got a hold of The Ukrainians’ EP Pisni Iz The Smiths. And yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like:Â songs from The Smiths covered by a post-punk Ukrainian traditional music group. And it’s wonderful.
The first track is a cover of Bigmouth Strikes Again:
The second track is a cover of The Queen Is Dead:
That is just perfect.
The third track is a cover of Meat Is Murder:
The last track is a cover of What Difference Does It Make:
These are such thoughtful which do much more than just cover the songs. The Ukrainians also write their own songs, you can hear samples at their website.
I’ll close out with their kick ass version of another song you probably know:
Are they of Ukranian heritage?
the band’s leader is of Ukrainian and Yugoslavian heritage, one other original member not currently in the band is Ukrainian, and the other 2 regular members have degrees in Russian or Slavic studies and are fluent in Ukrainian.
i guess you really can make a decent living with a language arts degree!