There's something about the sound of a tuba playing in a rock band. I've always thought that brings a certain level of absurdity to the proceedings. Not that it makes the music sound ridiculous, rather it makes the band sound like they don't take themselves too seriously and lets you know that you are allowed to have fun listening to the tracks. Of course with the lyric in Russian it's hard to know what they are singing about, but the impression I got was here's a band that does a lot of their music with their tongues planted very firmly in their cheeks.

Having brass and wood winds gives them far more flexibility than the would have if they were a band made up of your standard rock and roll instruments. It seemed to me that aside from the polka type sound they were chugging out on the first track, they also were incorporating elements of various Eastern European folk melodies and what sounded like gypsy music. It's on slower tunes that you really notice the European influences and the difference that it has on the way the music impacts you emotionally over regular rock and roll.

Don't get me wrong, I love great rock and roll, but there is only so much that you can do with it musically - it is limited. So when your music incorporates other instruments and is not confined to the basic chord progressions of rock, the potential for what you can do  increases. Of course, you still have to have the talent and the skill to take advantage of that, and know how to create music that's rich and inventive enough that it sounds natural and not contrived.

On Girls Sing Auktyon show that they can take the various styles they use and create amazing music that is emotionally honest. There weren't any moments while listening to the CD that I was given the impression that a moment was being manufactured with the intent of manipulating the listener. There was nothing at all contrived about their sound.

In the old days of the Cold War I'm certain that Auktyon would have been accused of succumbing to decadent Western influences and would have found themselves running afoul of the cultural police or some other organ of the state. Instead what we have is a wonderful gift of music that combines great rock and roll with the wonderful energy and emotional depth of Eastern European music. Auktyon is proof positive and that East and West can meet in harmony and make beautiful music together.