Rubik
Dada Bandits - Fullsteam
FILTER Grade: 83%

Americans, bless their self-centric little hearts, could hardly be trusted to even find Finland on a map. So, Rubik is likely to be a jarring introduction to Finnish culture. Dada indeed! The group’s second full-length is possibly the aural equivalent of riding a hobby horse after gobbling a fistful of hallucinogens. Opener “Goji Berries,” with its fairy-voiced, elfin weirdness, reminds you that Rubik resides on the same cruise-ship route as Sigur Rós. However, their disaffection for logic drives them into decidedly less romantic corners, where ominous Kodo drumming might casually segue into calypso euphoria. The gloriously extravagant, structure-repellent absurdity of ’70s progressive rock is everywhere, with the likes of “Altitudes” quite perfectly indulging the sort of futuro-medievalism that made early Genesis so charmingly impenetrable. Yet “Fire Age” is a groovy and catchy though fantastical little bit of synth-pop, and “Wasteland,” which doesn’t seem to have anything to do with T.S. Eliot, has moments of genuinely haunting minimalism. It’s pure prog for now people... or perhaps No Wave for those with less access to cheap heroin. Freaky.