Vopli Vidopliassova. Buly den'ky. (There were those days)

The group "VV" has recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of their creative life – and have released a new album. The age is respectable not only for a group – even for a person it is already quite a lot. One can – and should – sum up some results and draw conclusions. Actually, the album "There Were the Days" has become this kind of summarizing. It as if concludes all previous themes, all perfected schemes. This album as if involves time into reverse movement. It represents qualitative Ukrainian alternative rock-and-roll – such as it would be 20 years ago if ideology, finance, quality of equipment, etc. allowed that. It reminds all ideas and feeling that were important – and lets the past free, says goodbye to it. Probably, forever – as "VV" is now in the prime of life. In particular, they have enough force for participation in parallel music projects and theater experiments, and for organization of several festivals, and for own tours-recordings-releases. As they say, a person never gets a burden heavier than he/she is able to lift and carry – and energy of this group would suffice for even a few more intense creative lives, to say nothing of their own. So, we also won’t linger. Let us remember together what they were like, all those days, let us be glad that they were – as well as let’s be glad that they already passed a long time ago. And – let’s go on. To the future. Which, as it is known, is always bright...

Anton Jozhik Leyba (Hedgehog)