KÄNGURU

You just knew this pun had to happen, didn't you? Third dose of this absolutely insane guitar power trio, presenting another pill of chaotic musical freedom, more or less under the same format (four lengthy 10-min+ tracks) but the length is even slightly longer this time,the album nearing the 50 minutes. Unlike its two, predecessor, Kanguru is not released on the legendary Ohr label (gone broke), but it is not really losing either as it was released on the just-as-legendary Brain-Metronome label. The trio does calm down a bit even if you still get the full double Guru madness (a little tamed, though), and the trend is respected: these tracks are now with a clear structure (sometimes ;-), and this costs them a bit as the production of the album is also slicker.

In fact, importing more structure to Guru Guru's music seems to be doing the opposing effect it was aiming at: it tames the beast and introduced some lengths and the album is definitely more repetitititititive than its predecessor. Both Oxymoron and Immer Lustig could easily loose a few minutes here and there: especially the later in the spacey nature bout that is rather uninteresting, at least in the studio recording, because most likely this must've been mind-blowing live.

On the other side of the album, Baby Cake Walk does bring back some of the noisy chaos that was so savoury on the first two albums, and this track is their best on this album, even if it brings nothing new to the trio. Ooga Booga is back to the more structured tracks of the album's flipside and holds fewer charms (even though the middle section reminds us of Jimi's Experience) but also some lengths.

After this album, Uli Trepte, the bassist a bit lost between those two other crazy nutheads, will leave for a studio career, and his departure will prove a bit detrimental to the group. But in retrospect, the double Guru was already starting its slow decline with this album, showing that organizing their musical chaos was taming the beasts inside themselves. Still good, but not as great as the previous two.