Also known as Gruppirovka Leningrad Website Official website | Years active 1997–2008 2010– Awards Golden Gramophone Award | |
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Labels Gala RecordsO.G.I. Records Members Sergey Shnurov, Vasilisa Starshova, Florida Chanturia Albums Piraty XXI veka, Mat bez elektrichestva, Made in zhopa, Хна, Dachniki Profiles | ||
Leningrad (Russian: Ленинград), also known as Gruppirovka Leningrad (Russian: Группировка "Ленинград") and Bandformirovanie Leningrad (Russian: Бандформирование "Ленинград"), is a popular Russian rock band from Saint Petersburg (formerly Leningrad), led by Sergey "Shnur" Shnurov.
Contents
Composed of 14 members, the band was founded in the late 1990s. Leningrad soon became notorious for vulgar lyrics (including lots of Russian mat) and celebration of alcoholism, which were also the main reasons most radio stations initially avoided the band. This did not stop Leningrad's growing popularity, partly because of the rich brass sound. The band eventually made its way to radio and TV (with profanity bleeped out). Shnurov even presented several New Year's Eve TV shows.
In 2007, the group began experimenting with female backup vocals, finally choosing jazz singer Yuliya Kogan as a permanent band member.
Leningrad disbanded in 2008, and then reunited in 2010. Several new songs and videos have been released since, most of them featuring lead vocals by Kogan rather than Shnurov.
Cultural impact
As Shnurov said himself: "Our songs are just about the good sides of life: vodka and girls that is."
The band was so disliked by the then mayor of Moscow Yuriy Luzhkov, that he cancelled all of its attempted large-scale events in the city during his term in office. Leningrad's numerous performances in Moscow were therefore limited to privately owned night clubs and bars.
A particular focus of the band's lyrics are mainstream cultural and political clichés. Kandidaty - pidory ("Candidates are faggots"), the refrain of their 2007 song "Vybory", became a widespread post-Soviet meme referring to electoral abstention. The 2010 song I Bolsche Nikovo ("And Nobody Else (That I Love")) addresses Saint Petersburg's intended image as "Russia's cultural capital", ridiculed with the use of mat and references to alcoholism and street crime.
Shnurov is also fond of ridiculing Russian pop music and pop rock by covering the songs of popular performers and then inviting them to appear with Leningrad live on stage.
Soundtracks
Leningrad songs appeared in several popular pulp and crime films, notably DMB and Bimmer. Three songs by Leningrad appeared prominently on the soundtrack to the 2005 film Everything Is Illuminated. "Nikogo Ne Zhalko" is one of the songs used in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV. In 2015, Leningrad's song "Lastochka" was featured in the ending credits of the vampire horror comedy "What We Do In The Shadows."
Current line-up
Past members
Songs
Eksponāts2016
The Glasses of Sobchak2016
ZOZH2015