Uz Jsme Doma — Caves
Its a hectic, colourful album of punky-prog; or possibly proggy-punk - though actually, I’ll refine that and straight away reveal my problem with “Caves”: its prog, and then its punk. Uz Jsme Doma are clearly good musicians; but, a lot of the time, this musicianship is to be found in the detail. They will often embellish the ends of sections, in the same way that the standard display of rhythm guitar virtuosity, is to play the proscribed riff then add a little run on the end. More often, they condense the more interesting musical moments into a distinct section, separate from the main flow of the song. The point I’m making in such a laboured way, is that to my ears the prog and punk elements could be better entangled. The second track, “Droplet”, is a good example of this: it starts with a playful section dominated by trumpets, which suggests something interest may follow - before launching into some incredibly mundane “punk” riffage. It sounds like Blaggers I.T.A., and I was a big fan of the Blaggers back in the day - but tidy punk guitar accompanied by anthemic, ska-derived trumpet lines just won’t charm my ears anymore. There’s too many similar sections to this, where the non-prog elements are really very ordinary indeed; sounding like someone’s notion of punk, but, in reality, just sounding like “faster rock music”. Where Uz Jsme Doma pursue a more overtly prog tone, they do produce some gold. The start of “Reel” is a nice slippery, drunken slice of riffing; and there’s a section in the middle of “Nugget” which reminds me of Voivod - never a bad thing. But I can’t help but wish they’d bleed this colour and rhythm into the bulk of their riffs, which are often very uninspiring. Melodically, there’s often a lot going on - though the darker, heavier elements are never dark or heavy enough; but rhythmically its not exactly an album of disorientating time changes, although the rhythm section is full of adept and subtle accenting.
There’s a parallel with Naked City here: the punkier or thrashier elements don’t sound wholly convincing. The incredibly shiny and tame production doesn’t help matters; but its more a sense of Uz Jsme Doma missing the mark somewhat. They sound as if they’re making an attempt at energy and abrasiveness, if not anger; certainly a level of intensity, but an intensity that seems out of reach. “Fascination” is all bluster and loudness, but comes across as an attempt, rather than a success.
In many respects, Uz Jsme Doma have all the ingredients to make something to delight my ear - they just haven’t. Saying this, I have no doubt that a lot of people interested in “this kind of thing” will love them. They are excellent musicians - the bassist, in particular, is a constant bubble of notes - and fill their songs with lots of twists and turns and tones; flitting from punk to folky sections, from pastoral passages to spiralling prog riffs. It just so happens that none of them are especially alluring to my tympanic membranes. I think that one deciding factor in this, is the essential chirpiness, even cheekiness, of the trumpet parts: they colour the tone of the songs away from my tastes. There are enjoyable parts: the end-chorus of “Shelter” is very catchy and danceable, there’s a section in “Fascination” which sounds like a gypsy wedding band gone punk, and indeed the whole of “Ceilings” is interesting - it probably gets closest to being proggy-punk or punky-prog.
I could possibly summarise Uz Jsme Doma as being Zappa fans playing “punk”. It is very much that Zappa thing. They might see this as a compliment, but to me its a path devoid of joy. I might even sharpen the knife further and say that with their very clean, cultured take on “punk”, they veer close to what we like to call “Dad Rock”. Which I feel bad saying, because this is a band who initially performed and existed under threat of persecution by a totalitarian state - and in that respect they deserve 5/5, regardless of what their albums sound like. But, I am nevertheless reviewing this album on its sonic merits, and so…