Mumiy Troll: “From Russia With Love”

The Skinny: It’s a peculiar fact that some bands are hugely popular in certain parts of the world yet fairly unknown in others. One of the best North American examples of this strange phenomenon is how The Tragically Hip is one of the most popular musical acts in all of Canada yet south of the border they’re lucky to attract a few hundred fans to a concert. Mumiy Troll is a Russian rock band that is extremely well known in their native land yet has never made it big in North America. Regardless, the group has been together now on and off since 1983 and in that time have released over a dozen records. The name of the band, the mummies’ troll, is a pun on Moomin’ Troll, a series of children books from Finnish author Tove Jansson.

The band rose to popularity upon the release of their first proper record Morskaya released in 1997. They are led by singer Ilia Lagutenko who has described the band’s sound as “rockapops,” a hybrid of rock and pop music which has subsequently become a popular genre in Russia. Aside from their native land, Mumiy Troll has also garnered a lot of attention in Japan, China and parts of Europe.

Even though Mumiy Troll remains far more popular in these parts, the band has begun to finally grab some of the spotlight in North America. The group’s North American debut Comrade Ambassador was released last year and an EP titled Polar Bear just came out this week. To help promote the new releases, Mumiy Troll will be a major part of this year’s South By Southwest Festival happening in Austin, Texas this weekend. If you’ve yet to check out Mumiy Troll then do yourself a favour and have a listen. Amazingly, the group has even been referred to as the most significant Russian band since the collapse of the Soviet Union over twenty years ago.

Genres: Rock, Alternative, Pop, Russian Rock