Label: Nika Records
Release date: 14.10.2018
Production: Drago Popovič
Album length: 31.05
Rating: 6.5 / 10
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Lumberjack are yet another young band that has shaken up Slovenian stages quite thoroughly in barely two years and made sure everyone knows they exist. Hard-working, super-committed guys. Hats off. The band comes from a land where very little rainwater stays on the surface (I’m talking about Dobrepolje), and to be precise, it’s a quintet of five fearless, ambitious young stallions who reached a consensus to follow a musical direction that has, over the years, become the standard-issue rock reality in Slovenia.
You could say Lumberjack are stripped-down rock’n’roll wearing a veil of punk simplicity, with a modest dash of hard rock leanings (Kdo, Lažem) and, of course, more than a tangible dose of pop musicality. If I dig deeper, the guys write songs in a very trivial way, meaning simple and predictable. There’s no other way, that’s a fact. Two verses, two choruses, a “mid-eight” passage and a repeat of the chorus. Even the basic rhythmic patterns within the songs are fairly close to each other, with no deviations between them. So Lumberjack run through a single gear, the one known as straight-ahead rock charging.
The minor problem that comes with all this is the realization that Lumberjack remind you a bit too often of Big Foot Mama (in their old school era), perhaps precisely because of the vocal timbre and the chosen melodies of the lead lines, especially in the choruses. Nothing we haven’t heard before, then. The fact that the band is at the start of its career is also shown by the guitar solos, which come across as very naive at times and are tremendously similar to one another. Holy simplicity in rock and roll is an axiom that can be an incredibly strong trump card in the musical style your music stands behind, but you mustn’t give off a feeling of genericness, nor of playing it safe. The variety and the jump in dynamics that, say, the “mid-eight” passage in Čist vse brings is a move the album is missing.
“Brez nadzora, brez morale” is in fact a very play-it-safe album, even though judging by the album’s title you might expect something else. At least more daring, plus some production edginess and balls. But there’s something there. The band is at the start and it’s young. What we find on this studio debut is by no means bad. It has potential and is a genuine product, an authentic result of the big ambitions of the quintet’s burning rock’n’roll hearts. That deserves appreciation. So with maturing and mileage, an artistic upgrade will come too, and of course more tangible substance in what they say, which will replace the occasional feeling of dryness and, to some extent, even “archaism” on the debut. The closing track of the album actually delivers a moment of experimentation. It’s called Štanz and it’s counted as an extra (bonus) track on the album. So we should go easy on it, but still. A cheap arrangement, keyboard sound and a “tuc-tuc” beat for an extra three and a half minutes of the listener’s time stolen? The band’s generational peers will “buy” those gags, and maybe the odd very young “teenage” listener too. Really, this time without control and morals. The band basically did what it wanted and held nothing back. Fair enough, but at what price?
A bit more variety, especially between the riffs and the rhythmic patterns, will be more than welcome in the future, along with tempered ambitions and a greater dose of patience when polishing the compositions. Lumberjack cultivate a style that doesn’t even need keyboards. A shift is needed. A move. So that the feeling that they occasionally come across as a Big Foot Mama clone disappears in the future. Admittedly a thankless remark, but still. At least you know this is a 100% pure-blooded Slovenian punk rock’n’roll record, which isn’t enough, though. The bit of bite in this write-up isn’t meant to take the wind out of the band’s sails. Quite the opposite. It should fire them up to keep chasing their dreams. May evolution bring the band a gradual artistic blossoming in the future.
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. Tist dan
2. Kdo
3. Sanje
4. Pleše
5. Soj
6. Lažem
7. Čas
8. Kralj
9. Čist vse
10. Štanz
Line-up:
Rok Ahačevčič – vocals, guitar
Robi Glač – guitar
David Podgornik – keyboards, percussion
Jaka Novak – bass
Blaž Kuster – drums
