Sandinista!

Sandinista! is a hardcore punk group from Sankt-Peterburg, Russia, active from 2003 to 2005. The band is associated with hardcore punk and punk, and is also tagged with hardcore, neocrust, screamo, antifa and Russian hardcore.

Background

The group is founded on the idea that hardcore punk is more than music and fashion. Its members take part in or support antifascist resistance, the anarchist movement, Food Not Bombs and Animal Liberation. They are also strict vegans or vegetarians. The band’s only named member in the available information is Timur Kacharava.

Music and themes

Sandinista!’s lyrics deal with war, ecology, consumerism, social pressure and the extinction of native breeds. Musically, the band is influenced by 1990s heavier new school hardcore, including Unbroken and the “Rather Be Dead” era of Refused, as well as political hardcore groups such as Econochrist, Catharsis and Tragedy. The band aims to move away from standard punk hardcore formulas and develop its own style.

End of the band

The group ends after Timur, who plays lead guitar and writes most of the music, dies after an attack in November 2005. After his death, the other members do not continue under the name Sandinista!.