Four of the 11-piece anti-establishment female group Pussy Riot have released a video (‘Like a Red Prison’) depicting them cavorting on a oil pipe-line, dressed in their trade-mark brash balaclavas. The lyrics display their distaste for the wealthy energy sector whilst attacking Putin’s anti-homosexual legislation.

This is the protest-groups first appearance since ‘Punk Prayer’, a song that won them international acknowledgement, especially in the west, gaining endorsement from the likes of Paul McCartney and Madonna. Their flagship video was shot in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, an act that led to the imprisonment of three members Nadezhda Tolokonnikva, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich on charges of hooliganism, a sentence that much of the world regarded as a travesty. The band claim that ‘Like a Red Prison’ aims to draw attention to Putin’s practice of circumventing the majority and sharing the vast oil proceeds with his closest allies.

The song is complete with its usual, charmless vocals, screeching remonstrations with buzzy guitars grinding in the background, however the introduction is far from talentless. The bass and drums jog in syncopation with palm-muted metal crunches accenting the jutting groove, until the singer blurts out in an anxious howl. From this point onwards it’s virtually unlistenable, but after-all the message supersedes the sound.

It is important for us to acknowledge such staunch protest music in an age where it is considered cliché. Considering the groups brush with incarceration, the bravery these women show is highly commendable. The bemused looks on the oil-workers face in this video encapsulates the lack of understanding, whether it be wilful ignorance or not, that many people in ‘state-subjugated’ societies are burdened with.

You can watch the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOM_3QH3bBw