SPRING

I cannot say that the prospect of long-winded space rock jams fits all too well into my personal musical taste. However, I can spot talent when I hear it. Kaarna is a Finnish psychedelic jam trio whose debut EP 'Spring' has become something of an underground hit among space rock circles. Using an organic style of production to convey their improvised jams, Kaarna gives a very promising peak of their future as a band, although the wandering nature of the music tends to wear thin after a while.

Laid back, at times grungy and never in a rush to go anywhere particular, 'Spring' seems to be a perfect album for space rock afficionados around the world to light their bongs to.There is an evident influence of early Pink Floyd and some of Hawkwind's less upbeat material in Kaarna. The sound is not particularly innovative or original, but Kaarna does feel like their own band here; jazz nuances really help to give the band an identity that sits a step above the legions of cookie-cut space jammers out there. The music here generally consists of improvised guitar soloing courtesy of Mikko Iivanainen, who does feel to lead the band through their explorations. Rounding off the band is the nicely audible and percussive bass of Mikko Nurmi, and the jazzy percussion of Tatu Henttonen. as musicians, these guys really succeed at making their improvisations passionate. However, the album does struggle to keep one's attention for that very fact; very little here sounds thoughtfully composed. With the exception of general directions the band follows, and a few recurring guitar ideas, each song generally takes the same laid-back, solo-heavy approach.

For a psychedelic jam trio, things can get fairly heavy, in terms of distortion and tone. The way the band plays is usually laid-back, but the tone of the guitar especially reminds me often of Robert Fripp, from King Crimson. While I am not too fond of the direction that Kaarna takes with 'Spring', I do find myself particularly endeared to the production, which is excellent with the style in mind. Things do not sound mechanical as many studio recordings do, but rather organic; the musicians tend to play off of each other quite a bit. Especially during the live portion of the album, one can really hear the chemistry between the band members. I have no doubt that those who adhere themselves to more improvised styles of music than I do will have no problem finding something to love here. 'Spring' is a good album, but it can tend to get a bit too indulgent at times.

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