New music is often created through the collision of hitherto disparate styles. Immigrating to the U.S. from Ukraine in the 1990s, Eugene Hutz (pictured), the driving force behind Gogol Bordello, grew up on his native music but also caught the tail end of the American hardcore scene, most notably D.C. legends Bad Brains and Fugazi. Hutz does not recognize any disparities between the two. “I see the punk and hardcore scene as an anthropological study. It’s very tribal as is gypsy and reggae. If you’ve lived and travelled you start to connect the dots.”

Describing the music of his roots, Hutz says,”Gypsy music is basically any ethnic music that is played by Gypsies of that country, in Romania they play Romanian music and in Turkey they play Turkish music. In those countries the meaning of music is completely different. It’s a means of survival or serious emotional therapy. We put an extreme twist on what makes it Gypsy music.” On Wednesday, this clash of influences and impassioned approach to music were on display at 9:30 Club as Hutz led his band through a blistering set of their unique brand of gypsy punk before a frenzied sold out crowd.

Hutz describes the band’s latest and most excellent release, Super Taranta!, as a “panoramic” and “advanced” recording where “a lot of fantasies came together.” The album successfully combines all of the band’s influences and presents a strong immigrant’s aesthetic to which anyone connected with such a community can relate. The lyrical content ranges from political diatribe to a foreigner’s travails in navigating through American culture.

Image from Gogol Bordello’s MySpace page