LUMBERJACKS
Lumberjacks
(Hokahey! HHR 1201)
(1) Going Home (2) King Alcohol (3) You Don't Love Me (4) I, Me & Myself (5) I Get Suspicious (6) Cherry Pie (7) The Town (N62 52,396 E 24 12.388) (8) That's Allright (9) Someday (10) Lasting Kind (11) I'm Your Shadow

The five-year-old Ostrobothnian band Lumberjacks has released their first album, in which all the songs are of their own making. The main composers are singer- bassist Miikka "Chef" Kivimäki and singer-guitarist Urmas "Big Hand" Niemi. Other players are Janne Käpylä (drums and vocals) and Jarkko Salo (keyboards and vocals). There are also some guests invited, such as Micke Björklöf and Lefty Leppänen (7).

The album contains quite soulful root music. The vocals are strong, both in harmony parts as well as in solos. The opening track "Home" shows the direction; mid-tempo rolling pieces, spiced with tasty guitar. Sure there are even faster tempos provided, such as "Cherry Pie" with organ sound topping. Yet slower moods are not forgotten, one such offering is "I'm Your Shadow". And the going gets rough in the description of "The Town" (7). Lyrics contain often-used familiar blues-style imagery and sayings, even if "King Alcohol" made the old man to crawl, not women!

This product by the Lumberjacks is certainly versatile and entertaining. They need to be checked live on stage.

Aimo Ollikainen