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Terje, Jesper & Joachim
The one and only album from Denmark's Terje, Jesper & Joachim is issued on CD for the first time. Recorded in 1970, its heavy guitars, frenetic drums, and improvised jams are steeped in the psych traditions of the day. While it shies away from the baggage of that style, it also doesn't do much to transcend it.
The band played for five years before recording this album and their experience together shows in the tightness of their arrangements and their ability to change directions at whim. Unfortunately, the songwriting usually doesn't do enough to distinguish them from countless other groups of the period. They are at their best when there's an urgency to their playing, especially songs like "Ricochet" and "Free," which have the hardest-hitting riffs. Also of note is their cover of George Harrison's "If I Needed Someone," a loose but impassioned take on the original. A lot of the other songs, though, are fairly typical psych rock with few moments of genuine excitement. It doesn't help, either, that the vocals are serviceable at best.
In the accompanying liner notes, bassist Joachim Ussing writes that the recording sessions ended prematurely every night because the producer and technician became too stoned to continue. This might explain some of the unevenness of the mix, with the bass in particular all but fading into the background for stretches at a time. With a little more technical attention, some of these songs could have had more impact. As it stands, it is still not a bad album, merely an ordinary one.
