El Banda – Wściekłyszpaler EP

El Banda has been one of my favorite bands ever since I first heard them in 2006. For those who don’t know, El Banda hails from Warsaw and features longtime Polish punk veterans: Antidotum, Trawnika and the almighty Post Regiment!

Their first full-length Przejdzie Ci came out in 2006 to become one of the most anticipated records in the Polish punk-rock scene. In my humble opinion, the record was a perfect illustriation of what melodic punk should look and sound like—highly energetic, well-tuned, especially charismatic, and with a strong emphasis on lyrics that are overtly political/anarchist/feminist in nature.

Wściekłyszpaler is the band’s latest EP, recorded at the end of August 2016 and released on seven-inch vinyl by the longstanding Pasażer Records. Needless to say, the lyrics are still as relevant as ever to the current political situation in Poland and beyond. Wściekłyszpaler contains only three songs, one slower and two faster, all of them against injustice, against femicide and against those who want to rob women of their bodily autonomy. The music is still as amazing as ever, and El Banda’s singer Ania once again delivers some great vocals in the beautiful Polish language. The EP was written in support of and dedicated to #czarnyprotest (aka black protest), the spontaneous national day of strike against a proposal for a near-total ban on abortion in Poland.

El Banda are still one of the most important feminist punk bands to come out of Poland, and this EP, along with everything else they have released over the years, is highly recommended.