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Farmers Market, "Surfin' U.S.S.R."
Norwegians crossing surf guitar with Bulgarian folk traditions to poke fun at failed Marxist ideology could make for compelling cross-cultural musical commentary but instead comes across like one long-winded joke that simply isn't funny. While there are a few good songs, the majority of them are blandly similar and unexceptional.
Titles like "Surfin' U.S.S.R. 2 (Top Marx from the Serf Board!)," "Anyone Who Remembers Vladiwoodstock Wasn't There!," "The Dismantling of the Soviet Onion Made Us Cry," and "One Day, Son, All I Own Will Still Belong to the State" told me right away that this album was a single-minded affair. Unfortunately, the music comes across that way also. The first couple of songs, which include the title track and its sequel, have the most surf influence and are the easiest to listen to because the surf guitar differentiates them from the rest of the album. Too many of the others play up the Bulgarian folk traditions but are instrumentals that rely on the same tempos and rhythms again and again, making the music monotonous in the process.
Only a few songs are of interest, including a cover of Gerry and the Pacemakers' "Ferry Cross the Mersey" in Bulgarian complete with sweeping strings. "Dissident Harmony Sisters Camel Call" has some good female harmonies over a drum. These same singers reappear on the finale "Yagoda" alongside harp and tamboura. For me, they were the highlight of an otherwise forgettable album.
Maybe during the Cold War, this novelty schlock might have worked or at least had a more receptive audience. So far after the fact, however, it simply isn't very clever or captivating.
