SPICES, SPECIES AND POETRY PETROL

Have your ankles being swankled?

When a band is a blend of being entertaining, powerful and humoristic at the same time, you tell your friends quickly. I got excited at this band because I'm looking for a Gentle Giant-Sugar- Twin-kinda-band. I did find something a bit more complicated than this...

Jeavestone is a band that goes full throttle in what they do. There is no filling and there's very few idea repetition, but you won't get bored. They are skilled musicians (although kinda young) and they have a fondness for bands like Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant but mainly Beardfish or Frank Zappa. The songs are short, packed with punch, features lots and lots of hooks, despite the heavy amount of jazz-folk and a good dose of auto-derision. There is a lot of humor, even in the way they are playing, especially in the fake infomercial about a device that removes and polishes ankles. I laughed very hard, and again, people were staring at me for the wrong reasons.

So fans of Beardfish, please drop whatever you are doing and get this album. A gem.

The follower to Jeavestone's promising debut is a clear improvement. Also the cover art is better, but the drawn texts are hard to read. The additional booklet is a humorous 7-page cartoon "The Seek of a Lost Musician" by Heidi Vierimaa. Judged on the opening tracks, the group's energetic, US reminding prog rock shows no hint of slowing down or losing the humorous spirit. 'Liquera Puente!' wastes no time in adding colourful details into the boogie- flavoured rock'n'roll. 'The Plastic Landscaper' sounds like FRANK ZAPPA's amusing vocal prog, while the Shop TV satire 'The Power of Swankle' is extremely Zappa-esque; a merry jazz-rock tune accompanied by cheesy advertising speeches.

'I'd Be Your Weakness' starts calmly with acoustic guitar.The slow-paced vocal harmonies are in the style of e.g. CROSBY, STILLS & NASH. This beautiful track brings the needed balance, and also the first half of the next, two-part track avoids the overdose of energy and offers relaxing, richly arranged prog with plenty of flute. 'Rapist's Tango' returns to the hectic and satirical style familiar from earlier tracks. On the long run I find it tiresome. Another breath of fresh air is offered by a tiny, pretty instrumental 'Erg'. 'Your Turn to Run' keeps shifting between delicate jazzy textures and edgier, slightly aggressive sections à la KANSAS.

As a crowning epitaph the album closes with a 10-minute composition with lots of dreamy softness. Indeed this album fulfills the hopes for more mature stylistic spectre that I got from the restless debut. Warmly recommended!