GURU GURU

The fourth Guru Guru album is hardly their best, there still is some tripping quality but the abundance of rockabilly quotes and silliness can't hide that the strong string of albums released by this band had come to an end.

The first half of the album consists of light rockabilly influenced jams that are fun for once but hardly deserving of a second glance. On Samantha's Rabbit the vocals add a bit of a Canterbury flavor, which works out quite nicely. The 13 minute rockabilly medley that follows only manages to get on my nerves. Also Woman Drum is a goofy rock pastiche.

Fast forward to the second half of the album which shows the band still had some creative juice in the tank. The songs show the band in a brave attempt to combine their trippy qualities with jazzy flavors and spacey experimentation. Both deserve their spot on any Guru Guru compilation. Of course these guys can't contain their 'sense of humor', so also Der Elektrolurch gets its share. But within such a good piece of music it kind of works. The Story of Life also has a bit of everything, dreamy psych pop, parody and a near 10 minutes of pure cosmic bliss.

A mixed bag but one with enough goodies inside to warrant 3 stars.