Smoky Finish, Tune the Speed (Smoky Finish, 2004)
We’ve had this CD for quite a while and keep in it pretty regular rotation, since it’s a pleasure to listen to from start to finish. I didn’t realize until I started writing the review of the related band Spinning Wheel that no one had reviewed Tune the Speed.
Tune the Speed is the second CD released by Smoky Finish; our friend Chris White reviewed the first, Clear This Planet...Immediately! for Green Man a while back. As he correctly noted, although the band plays Irish (or at least Celtic-derived) rock music, the band members are all Austrian. This CD features Bernhart Ruso on flute, whistle, bodhran, and other percussion; Esch on bouzouki, guitar, mandolin, sax, jew’s harp and vocals; Andreas Neumeister on guitar, electric guitar, electric bass, and vocals; Klara Schillfermuller on fiddle, electric cello, and vocals; and Paul Dangl on fiddle, electric violin, electric mandolin, and vocals.
As this line-up suggests, the overall effect is very much a fiddle-driven wall of sound, somewhat reminiscent of the Levellers, although without the overt political content. The CD has eleven tracks and runs a full hour in length. Tracks 1, 5, 8, and 10 are instrumentals, medleys of dance tunes with quite a lot of traditional content.
The rest of the tracks include some vocals. The band members do vocal harmonies very well; no individual vocalist appears to dominate. The lyrics are quite interesting; however, the band members never got around to posting them on the Web site, so you’ll just have to listen closely to hear them. On one of the longer tracks, titled ‘Angus,’ there’s a very tasty instrumental bridge, some mad laughter (always makes me think of the Joker from Batman), and a couple of bars of ‘Rolling Thunder’ crossed with ‘Purple Haze’ just for fun.
Because of the limited information available on this band from liner notes or Web-based sources, I e-mailed Bernhart Ruso to get some background before I started writing this review. He advised me that Smoky Finish ceased to exist as a band in 2007 after playing together for ten years. So the two CDs we’ve reviewed are about all there is. You can still find copies of Clear This Planet...Immediately! and Tune the Speed pretty readily, but I wouldn’t wait long to order them unless you are willing to risk disappointment!
Bernhart also let me know that three members of Smoky Finish are now in a band called Tunnagan, which plays similar music. They are expected to release a debut album later in 2010. Watch for it!
