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Komsomolsk (Комсомольск, ) are a Russian indie rock band formed in Moscow in 2017. Over the course of four years, the group has released some 50 songs spanning over two studio albums and five extended play records. The band's ironical lyrics mix ageless themes with zeitgeist motifs set to major guitar-pop music.

History
The origin of Komsomlsk can be traced back to late 2015 when Daria (Dasha) Deriugina, Ivan Riabov, and Arina Andreeva met in Moscow long before the band's first rehearsals. Several months later Daria suggested to found a Russian-speaking group, and the others agreed. Ivan is credited with inventing the band's name, inspired by a cover of satirical magazine Krokodil issue from 1967. A bit later Ilia Lopatin joined the crew as a drummer, finalizing the band's original line-up.

2017-2019: First steps and EP era
Komsomolsk delivered a debut EP Komsomolsk-1 (Комсомольск-1) in June 2017 and went live two weeks later on a joint gig with the group Liubov i Roboty. From the very first show, the girls' colorful wigs appear the core feature of the band's stage image. One of the reasons for the wigs introduction was Dasha's intention to distinguish her two then-projects, Russian-speaking Komsomolsk and Anglicized Gin&Milk.

"Our first record was intended to be a sort of inside joke. It was a surprise to see it inspire the interest of people I didn't know personally. (Ivan Riabov)"

Right after debut live performance, Ilia Lopatin quit the band and emigrated to Poland, being immediately replaced with Pavel Kochetov, an experienced drummer from Voronezh. Together with Pavel, the band signed to the independent recording label Peter Explorer and released another two extended records, Kassa Svobody (Касса свободы) and 90210 until the end of 2017.

In spring 2018, the band followed up with the fourth official release, six-track EP Dorogie Moskvichi (Дорогие москвичи). The one appeared a major breakthrough followed by band's first music video Gde My Seichas? (Где мы сейчас?), solo gigs sold-outs in Moscow, a number of festival appearances including iconic Afisha Picnic, and live performance at Evening Urgant TV talk show aired on Channel One. Together with Yandex.Music, the band released their second music video Orkestr (Оркестр) as well as a song My Ishchem Cheloveka (Мы ищем человека) written in collaboration with Yandex neural network. In the fall, the group left on tour of twelve Russian cities.

"Sure we are the EP band. Who would need a LP in 2019 anyway? (Dasha Deriugina, May 2019)"

The band released their fifth EP, Den Psikha (День психа) in June 2019. The new record was presented on the Worker and Kolkhoz Woman Pavilion rooftop — in spite of heavy rain, the gig was played until the end. The only music video for this release, Chernyi Kvadrat (Черный квадрат) debuted in December 2019.

2020-2021: LP era
On August 21, 2020, the band quite unexpectedly released their first studio album Blizhnii Svet (Ближний свет) consisting of nine tracks. As the musicians said, this record is 'a sort of impressionism, a canvas depicting an everyday evening in Moscow, although you would hardly distinguish anything — only lights from cars, street lamps, and windows'. This record joined the list of the best Russian albums in 2020 published by online newspapers Meduza and Ridus.

The second studio album Retro (Ретро) was delivered just within a year in May 2021 and was hailed by critics as a sequel of Blizhnii Svet, yet recorded in Baroque pop aesthetics. Dasha Deriugina claimed this release to be 'the fastest album we have ever recorded, the band's most conceptual statement, fresh and pure like the green foliage in May'. The album's major hit, Glaza (Prilipli) (Глаза (Прилипли)) was performed live at the Evening Urgant show and later hit Chartova Dyuzhina music chart to stay at number one for a week and remain in Top 5 for nine weeks in total.

Band members

 * Daria Deriugina — vocals, lead guitar
 * Arina Andreeva — vocals, keyboards
 * Ivan Ryabov — bass guitar, baritone guitar
 * Pavel Kochetov — drums


 * Timeline