Target Kids / Killer Kids

As a concept for album 13 , the story of the maxi-single “Target Kids / Killer Children” was inextricably linked to this new studio work, Elysium, which the group devoted to social issues .

Mostly playing songs on romantic and funny themes, Elysium has gathered a large number of fans throughout Russia over the years of its existence. At the same time, the group’s musicians with age self-developed as individuals, formed certain views on life and on situations in the world that worried each of them ^{[5] [8]} . Elysium bassist and founder Dmitry Kuznetsov, along with guitarist Kirill Krylov (the main songwriters), decided that the group’s fans became big enough for Elysium to draw their attention to such hot topics as racial prejudice , corruption in politics, environmental issues . “Target Children / Children Killers”, the title track of the maxi-single about child homelessness , was one of the first songs mentioned in this creative direction - Kirill Krylov spoke about it in an interview in May 2007 (then Kirill mentioned it under the title “Children- assholes "):" This, in fact, is our fault: the problem of adults who raise such children " ^[7] . Krylov himself was familiar with the problems of the younger generation, since his mother worked in an orphanage ^[9] . In the same interview, Cyril referred to the text of another song included in the max single, “The State of the World”, when he touched on the cosmic theme inherent in Elysium: “By the way, we will also touch on space problems, such as black ozone holes , in the new album " ^[7] .

The goal of the maxi-single “Target Kids / Killer Children” was to prepare Elysium listeners for the release of their upcoming album 13 , showing them the finished material from this album ^[10] . Kirill Krylov did not deny that not everyone could like the new creative direction of the group and some fans would stop listening to it, but he hoped for a more devoted audience: “A true connoisseur of creativity should appreciate and understand the future perspective of our group, our lyrics” ^[7] . The group still knew in advance that not all maxi-single songs would be included on album 13 ; Moreover, according to Dmitry Kuznetsov, even all five songs on the single could not fully reveal its theme. And yet, “Target Children / Killer Children” were supposed to show the listeners of “Elysium” a general concept, to give an idea of ​​what the band’s next album would be ^[10] . “We have been entertaining and amusing people with our positive for a long time, and we will do it, but now we want to jump to a higher level, to a more serious wave. I want to be a little more political, to speak honestly, openly. Now in our songs there will be not only love-carrots, flowers and cosmos ”(Kirill Krylov) ^[7] .

Significantly distinguishes "Target Kids / Killer Children" from previous works of "Elysium" maxi-single musical style. Dedicated to social problems, songs are performed in heavy rock sound, designed to cause the listener excitement and anxiety ^[5] . The group also relies on musical experiments. Guitar parts in one song can replace one riff with another - this is largely done in the track “Other facets of understanding freedom” ^{[4] [5]} . The wind instrument characteristic of the musical style of Elysium is used in different ways: a trumpet : appears as a smooth introduction to the song “Reason for War”, plays energetically in the composition “Points over„ i “” and gives sound to the motifs of ska-punk in “Other Faces” understanding of freedom ” ^{[4] [6]} . The vocal of Alexander Telekhov is dominated by aggression and angry, weeping intonations; depending on the composition, Telekhov’s singing can begin with a half-whisper or break into a cry ^{[2] [5]} .

The author of the review on KM.RU Kirill Radchenko believes that the texts of all five songs on the maxi-single are incorrectly considered separately, since the concepts of love, freedom, peace and responsibility pass through each of them. In one of the press releases, Dmitry Kuznetsov stated that the songs do without any hidden meaning; Radchenko, on the other hand, notes that the authors tried to put as much sense as possible into each line - at the same time, the romantic themes of space and travel, beloved by the group, lost their former carelessness on the maxi-single ^{[5] [11]} . For example, the phrase “We shoved our ships aground” is repeated repeatedly in a disturbing sound in the title track “Target Children / Killer Children” - a song about the problem of raising street children , some of whom become victims of immorality by adults, while others grow with criminal inclinations ^[3] . The space is mentioned in the composition “State of the World”, which illuminates the problems of ecology and pollution , in this context: “Even space is alarmed - it gives us black holes” ^{[3] [5]} . In the song “Reason for War”, the theme of love appears as a contrast between the concept of “ war ”; in the text rhetorically sounds: “Fear is pouring into our lives - not to stop. How does this all relate to the fact that I can love? ” ^[5] . Closer than other maxi-single tracks, musical reviews include an optimistic song about the meaning of life called “Points over“ i “” ^{[5] [6]} to the previous style of “Elysium”. The final composition “Other facets of understanding freedom” raises the question of self-realization and attitude to the concept of freedom as a choice between good and evil ^[5] .

The maxi-single “Target Kids / Killer Children” was released on September 30, 2007 via 2 + 2 = 5 label - this was the first work of Elysium with this music publishing house after AiB Records ^[12] . The maxi-single CD was released in slipcase packaging. Roman Dokukin (vocalist of the $ 7000 band) performed two cover design options. On a cardboard case with the Elysium logo and the title “Target Kids” against a dark wall with a red scope, two gloomy teenagers are depicted - a girl holding a teddy bear in her hands and a boy. On the inner booklet with the words “Killer Children”, the cover depicts these same teenagers, but with angry faces; the boy has a gun in his hands, the girl has a knife, and the wall behind them is splattered with blood ^[3] . On the disc with the maxi-single, in addition to the main five compositions, there is a video clip for the new studio version of the song “Where is the dream lost?” From the Cosmos album, replayed in the style of acoustic reggae ^[2] . The audio version of this version of the song subsequently did not appear on any of the group's official releases.

The presentation of the maxi-single took place on the day of its release, September 30, 2007, at a three-hour concert of Elysium in the Moscow club Tochka ^[13] . Subsequently, the group actively performed songs from the maxi-single at their subsequent concerts ^[14] . Three songs of the maxi-single - “Target Children / Killer Children”, “State of the World”, “Other Faces of Understanding Freedom” - with additional arrangements, were included in the fifth studio album of Elysium, 13 , which appeared at the end of 2008. An acoustic version of the song “Other Facets of Understanding Freedom” appeared on the 2010 Elysium Greatest Hits compilation .

The indifference to social problems is not limited to "Elysium" only in songs. The group has previously participated in charity concerts, and its Moscow fan club Cosmos Rock raised all kinds of funds to provide orphanages ^{[7] [8]} . After the release of the maxi-single, Dmitry Kuznetsov said that the group, having such an album as “Target Kids / Killer Children”, has no right to ignore such events. At least in May 2008, Elysium hosted two charity concerts in two Moscow clubs. On May 19, Elysium performed for free in the Shadow club as part of the Rock Lesson charity event, where children from shelters in the Vladimir , Yaroslavl and Ryazan Regions were brought, among which were listeners of the group. Two days later, Elysium also played at the Let's Live! Festival at the Tochka Club, dedicated to helping children who are sick with leukemia ^{[9] [10]} .

Points over “i” feat Dmitry Spirin

In the summer of 2009, Elysium recorded a version of the song “Points over„ i “” with vocals performed by Dmitry Spirin , a singer from the punk rock group “ Cockroaches! ", Who is a good friend of the bassist of" Elysium "Dmitry Kuznetsov ^{[15] [16]} . The song was released on September 23, 2009 , available on the band’s official website ^[17] . In an interview with the Apelzin online magazine, Dmitry Kuznetsov said that it was originally planned to record a track with the Lumen group, but did not specify whether it was the same “Points over“ i “” or some other composition ^[16] .

The Elysium group created a certain mood for the release of the maxi-single “Target Children / Killer Children”, including in 2006 in its repertoire the song “How much are you?” - a composition with socialized text and torn musical rhythm ^{[4] [18 ] ]} . The network project Jamsession.ru believes that the early song “Elysium” on a social topic can also be called “Magic Money” of 2004 (the album “ Rock Planet! ”), However it is the maxi-single compositions that are completely concentrated in this direction ^[3] . Almost all musical reviews agreed that “Target Children / Killer Children” with their hard music and disturbing lyrics clearly demonstrate that “Elysium” has changed a lot and moved to a new stage of creativity ^{[3] [4] [5] [ 6]} . The review of the Podzemka alternative music portal, which put the maximum score for the maxi-single, highlights the quality interweaving of the vocals and back vocals of Alexander Telekhov, the tandem of the bass guitar and drums , as well as the versatility of the guitar parts of Kirill Krylov, which incorporate several styles at once - neatly, however, related to each other. The pipe unchanged for Elysium, according to The Underground, fills the maxi-single's songs with paints and removes a shade of hopelessness from them ^[4] . The multi-portal KM.RU called “Target Kids / Killer Children” an album claiming to be revolutionary among the experimentally rich discography of Elysium ^[5] .

Musical reviews believe that the new creative direction of “Elysium” is enough to learn from the very first song “Target Children / Killer Children”, which gave the name to the whole maxi-single ^{[4] [5] [6]} . Kirill Radchenko from the multiportal KM.RU writes that the song about street children completely affects the social sector, without focusing on only one topic ^[5] . Describing the general alarming tendency of the maxi-single, Jamsession.ru called it the “apogee of doom” ^[3] . The song “Reason for War” aroused interest among critics in the combined themes of love and war; the authors of the reviews acknowledge that it is extremely unusual for Elysium to intertwine two such keynotes in one song ^{[4] [5] [6]} . Alternative portal "Underground" wrote that the guitar introduction to the song performed in the best traditions of Therapy? ^[4] . Taking into account the composition “State of the World”, KM.RU suggested that the new direction of “Elysium” with the release of the maxi-single is emphasized pessimistic: in the words of this song, the theme of space, which is often present in the romanticized songs of the group, has a completely different, gloomy shade ( “Even the cosmos is alarmed - it gives us black holes” ) ^[5] . More similar to the early work of Elysium, critics called the track “Points over“ i “”, where a relatively light musical accompaniment does not distract the listener from the lyrics ^{[5] [6]} . The KM.RU portal sets the last composition “Other Faces of Understanding Freedom” as an example of the fact that the Elysium group has penetrated the topic of good and evil on the maxi-single more than the performers related to its stage ^[5] . The music portal "Underground" showed interest in synthesizing heavy guitar riffs and typical Ska-punk motifs in this song ^[4] . The Zaandr blogger concluded that ending with the words “Be free! Be sincere! ”The composition is the best result for a maxi-single ^[6] .

The largest Russian music portal NEWSmuz.com made a completely opposite opinion about the maxi-single - starting from the fact that it considered "almost heroic" the decision of Elysium to not only release a maxi-single , which at that time were not popular in Russia , but also with songs on social subjects, for which the group undertook for the first time. The lyrics of Elysium, according to NEWSmuz.com, have always been a weakness of the group, and if it was excusable in previous down-to-earth songs, the music portal called the lyrics of “Target Kids / Killer Children” “uniform nonsense”, which claims to be serious songs Lumen groups. At the same time, performing maxi-single songs does not save the situation: NEWSmuz.com criticized it as an unprincipled, unoriginal musical series and the “crying” manner of Alexander Telekhov’s singing. “Sometimes it’s possible to distinguish when one song ends and another begins, only by the number on the CD player. And this is not at all because of compositional perfection - solely because of the dullness and fading of the new songs of “Elysium” ”(NEWSmuz.com). As a result, the target children / killer children received a rating of 3/10 from the music portal. The only positive review NEWSmuz.com left a song unrelated to the essence of the maxi-single - the song "Where is the dream lost?" In a new version. NEWSmuz.com believes that the song is elegantly replayed and its text in the new version is revealed completely differently. “Perhaps this is the track that indicates the group its own musical and promising future” (NEWSmuz.com) ^[2] . The music portal "Underground" also regrets that the song is present on the maxi-single only in the form of a clip and was not published in the audio version ^[4] .

All music was written by Kirill Krylov and the Elysium group ^[1] .

• Dmitry "Dracol" Kuznetsov - bass ;
• Alexander "Propeller" Telekhov - vocals , backing vocals ;
• Cyril "Kira" Krylov - guitar ;
• Alexander "Komar" Komarov - pipe ;
• Alexey "Younger" Kuznetsov - drums .

Session member

• Egor Baranov - cello (track 2) .

• Press release maxi-single on the official website of the label 2 + 2 = 5 .
• Maxi-single page on the official site of the Elysium band.