Music / Kino

Wish me luck...^note From left to right, Yuri Kasparyan, Viktor Tsoi, Georgy Guryanov, and Igor Tikhomirov

Influences:

• The Beatles, The Cure, David Bowie, Duran Duran, Elvis Presley, Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, Classic Nouveau

Influenced:

• Pretty much on everyone on the Post-Soviet

Кино (Kino, 'Film'), was a legendary Soviet Post-Punk group active between 1981 and 1990. It is best known as the project of Russian-Korean songwriter, singer and rhythm guitarist Viktor Tsoi, who developed an image as one of the Soviet Union's few rockstars, holding a level of fame even today comparable to the likes of Kurt Cobain or Jimi Hendrix in the west. The other members of the band's final lineup were Yuri Kasparyan (lead guitar), Igor Tikhomirov (bassist), and Georgy Guryanov (drums).

Hailing from Leningrad, the band's early years were spend experimenting and developing their sound while building their fame within the Soviet Union's underground music scene. Their 1986 album Ночь (Night), was a major commercial success, thanks in part to a bootleg version of the album released by a state-owned record label. In the same year, the band were also a contributor to the compilation album Red Wave: 4 Underground Bands from the USSR, the first album released in the United States to feature Russian rock music.

Кино would see their big breakthrough in 1988 with the release of Группа крови (Blood Type). Combining socially-conscious lyrics with a level of production polish and technique that was rare from underground bands in the Soviet Union, the band and its frontman became an icon within the Soviet Union's youth counterculture, aided by the relaxing of censorship under Glasnost. The album also managed to receive attention outside the Soviet Union, receiving a release in the west by Capitol Records and allowing them to make appearances and concerts in Western Europe and the United States, a rare feat for a non-classical Soviet music act.

The band faced a tragic end in 1990, when Viktor Tsoi passed away in a car accident at the age of 28. Returning from a fishing trip within the Latvian SSR, he fell asleep behind the wheel before colliding with a bus. The band released one more album consisting of finished demo recordings that Tsoi had left behind, Чёрный альбом (Black Album), before disbanding.

Discography

• 45 (1982)
• 46 (1983)
• Начальник Камчатки^note Chief of Kamchatka (1984)
• Это не любовь...^note This is not love... (1985)
• Ночь^note Night (1986)
• Группа крови^note Blood Type (1988)
• Последний герой^note The Last Hero (1989)
• Звезда по имени Солнце^note A star called the Sun (1989)
• Чёрный альбом^note Black Album (1990)

Tropes:

• Line-of-Sight Name: "Kino" was reportedly chosen after Tsoi observed a neon cinema sign while trying to think of a band name.
• Minimalistic Cover Art: Чёрный альбом, which as the name implies is simply the band's name in white text on a black background.
• No Title: None of the songs on the original release of Чёрный альбом had names, instead just being numbered 1 to 8. The song titles would come on a 1994 CD reissue of the album.
• Shout-Out: Начальник Камчатки (Chief of Kamchatka) is a partial reference to the 1967 comedy film Начальник Чукотки (Chief of Chukotka).
• Smoking Is Cool: Viktor Tsoi was very commonly photographed smoking a cigarette as an invocation of this trope.
• War Is Hell: Blood Type is a protest song against this, the title referring to the blood type symbol worn on the sleeves of uniforms.