‘Acoustic-folk-punk’ from Finland… now there a sentence I never thought I’d write.

Ok now this is an odd one! From the Technicolor cover and extroverted moniker I figured Jaakko & Jay would be something of a quirky concern but I didn’t expect anything this batty. Finnish Duo Jaakko & Jay are a brashly upbeat proposition with their rapid fire songs built around little more than acoustic guitar + drums played at blistering speeds.

The result is almost like a cross between Gogol Bordello and the duo’s previous touring partner Frank Turner played with the ramshackle approach of early Replacements. That description really oversells ‘War Is Noise’ though as there is nothing here besides the tinny production (or lack thereof) and the sheer oddness of the conceit behind it to help War Is Noise stand-out as anything more than 14 tracks of essentially the same trick pulled in a variety of different ways. Of course this would be alright if there was something behind the music to back it up but lyrically it’s all reheated bile and the music consists solely of thin, reedy, lo-fi drums, harsh acoustic guitar and Jaakko’s shouty, melodically void European drawl. There are shards of violin and keys on a few tracks and it can’t be denied that ‘Walls & Bears’ is a catchy little number but too much here just sounds like the same song played again and again gaining speed until the frankly preposterous 200+ bpm ‘Keep In Touch’ brings proceedings to their logical conclusion.

The whole album sounds like it’s on fast-forward and as such it blows past in what seems like minutes without even giving ample time to digest it. I guess one could argue that its ‘mercifully short’ but there is a glimmer of talent here which I’m willing to bet can only be really captured and experienced live. On CD though it’s difficult to get by on attitude and ‘vibes’ alone, something Jaakko & Jay should take into account when recording in the future.
myspace.com/jakkonjay

Benjamin Hiorns