Singing in their native language,
Uniklubi spare us the clumsy and often unintentionally hilarious lyrics foisted on us by some ambitious but misguided European bands. Instead, the passion and purpose in the voice of frontman, Jussi, is evident without us having to understand a word he's singing.
On this, their second full studio album, there's a strong melodic sensibility clearly evident across a range of contemporary rock songs, with hints of glam, goth and American hard rock. There's also the occasional aftertaste of Eastern European ethnic music, no surprise given that Finland borders Russia and is a mere stone's throw from a myriad of ex Soviet republics. The band's consequent popularity in their home country aroused major label interest, culminating in them inking a deal with Universal. As you would expect then, production values are high.
The opening trio of tracks are immediate and visceral. Spiralling feedback, jagged guitars and a solid percussive thump drives '
Kiertaa Kehaa', '
Haudattu'(if Rivers Cuomo had been born in Finland, Weezer would have sounded like this) and '
Huomenna'. Nothing original there perhaps, but some sweet chord progressions, a few muscular melodies, and a dark, dark undertone. It's an impressive start, the sound of a band riding the crest of the new wave of contemporary rock, then adding a few tricks of their own (and maybe one or two borrowed from Him).
Uniklubi bring the hammer down hard and frequently. Most times they ring the bell loudly, but there's the occasional misfire, and about two thirds of the way through the album it suffers a serious loss of power and veers off the route taken thus far.
This resultant loss of momentum is partially recovered by closer '
Kaaksi Kuvaa', a song that can be grouped with mid album tracks '
Uneen' and '
Lasinsirpaleilla'. All are ebullient, darkly hued songs, classy, densely constructed, with the ability to appeal to a wider demographic.
One to watch.
Written by
Brian Saturday, June 17, 2006
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