Dezerter (PL)
From Warsaw
Popularity
Dezerter has one upcoming show in the Netherlands: on October 10, 2026 at Musicon, Den Haag.
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About
Few Polish punk bands have left a mark quite like Dezerter. Formed in Warsaw in 1981 under the name SS 20, they were forced to change their name by Communist authorities who found the Soviet missile reference too provocative. Rather than tone things down, the band kept cheating the regime with alternate spellings on posters, like "De zerter" or "The Zerter", to stay one step ahead. Their 1984 set at the Jarocin Festival drew around 20,000 people and nearly sparked a riot when festival organizers refused to hose down the dust clouds kicked up by the pogo. What set Dezerter apart was the combination of fast guitar riffs and sharp, intelligent lyrics written by drummer Krzysztof Grabowski entirely in Polish, a conscious choice that kept them underground outside Poland but earned fierce loyalty at home. Their 1983 EP sold 50,000 copies and landed a positive review in Maximumrocknroll. A live LP from the legendary Jarocin show was produced by Joey Shithead of Canadian punk band D.O.A., which says plenty about the company they kept.
