Pussy Riot's new video takes aim at corruption in Russian government

The band's new track 'Chaika' targets the country's Prosecutor General, Yuri Chaika.  

Clarisse Loughrey
Thursday 04 February 2016 10:17 GMT
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Feminist-punk protest group Pussy Riot have released a new music video to accompany the song, 'Chaika'.

Opening on that ultimate image of excess, of bare hands ripping into a meat carcass, the video follows with a confrontational stare which screams, "And, what?" An introduction to the band's pointed assault on the issue of governmental corruption in Russia.

'Chaika' refers to Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika; last December saw anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny accuse Chaika and his two sons of the theft of state money through the aid of one of Russia's most notorious criminal gangs. Chaika's denial of the accusations, and his own suggestion it forms part of a CIA plot to discredit him, has become a particular target of mockery for parts of Russia's internet community.

"You wanna get away with murder?" raps the group's co-founder Nadezhda Tolokonnikova. "Be loyal to your boss."

Its lush production values mark a departure from the group's rough-and-ready, punk aesthetics; partially born from a necessity, considering so many of their performances and shoots are broken up by law enforcement within minutes. According to TIME, the group here managed to acquire a Soviet-era banquet hall as a location by fooling owners into believing they were hosting a law enforcement convention.

The jail used in the clip is a frequent site for TV dramas, though owners became suspicious after noticing the group carrying a golden loaf of bread as a prop, emblematic of corruption in the country's Soviet history. The track itself was recorded alongside David Sitek of TV on the Radio in an LA location.

Pussy Riot first became an international symbol of protest in early 2012, when the group took to the altar of Moscow's main cathedral to film their video for, 'Mother of God, Chase Putin Away'. Two members, one of them Tolokonnikova, were convicted of religiously-motivated hooliganism and jailed for two years.

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