Jeavestone made it! This Finnish band has produced an unbelievable album full of happiness & musical surprises. Band's own definition of their music is prog'n roll. I'd add the word psychedelic. Someone would easily add a few more, so rich is the musical terrain of this album.
Finnish prog bands have been mostly known of their gloomy atmosphere with a recognizable "Finnish" sound. This music is far from it. This music is international - or should I say multi-international. The range of apparent musical influences is impressive. Too often this ends up with a catastrophe but Jeavestone has managed to keep their sound fresh and original.
Somehow the small Nordic cities seem to be capable of producing interesting prog. A good reference point is Swedish newcomer, Black Bonzo from Skellefte , a small town at the coast of the gulf between Finland and Sweden. Jeavestone comes also from a small coastal town of Kalajoki, just at the opposite side of the gulf, in the more-or-less-nowhere-part of Finland. Beardfish or Moon Safari are also examples of this phenomenon.
The musicians are young, all under 25. The singer & guitarist Mickey Maniac mentioned in a radio interview that his main influence is The Beatles, not the prog giants. According to him they simply play what they feel. All compositions come out intuitively without any conscious musical role models. This is hard to believe but still I'm tempted to do so.
The playing is naturally amazing throughout the album. There are woodwinds and string arrangements and what not. Jim Goldworth's singing is also superb which is really surprising, having heard the guys talk in the radio where they were just shy guys from the country, not being able to say anything too interesting in their 3-word sentences. Music is definitely their thing, not talking.
About the music itself: The Plastic Landscaper is a full-blooded psychedelic song, actually a perfect summer-hit. I'd Be Your Weakness sounds much like CSNY, only that the band - according to Matti Kervinen from the record company - has never listened to them. Daytime Escape/Veijo The Rattlesnake is the absolute peak of the album - an 8-minute mixture of peace and ecstasy ending with a GG-ish nirvana. Rapists Tango and Your Turn to Run are absolute killers. The last one is loaded with changing moods and astonishing surprises. The finishing song is a mini-epic devided in three parts. All this forms a fine work of art, the kind that only a complete fool would ignore.
Don't be one.
