Troy Lukkarila – Unsafe Structure / 2005 Lukalips / 14 Tracks / http://www.lukalips.com / Reviewed 01 January 2006

A Spartan sound is the hallmark of Lukkarila’s music on “Unsafe Structure”. The vocals are strong but during tracks like “Scars of Love”, they do not feel full unless there is a second set to compliment the first. It is only when “Scars of Love” kicks into instrumentation that Lukkarila begins to succeed; the classical instrumentation is enough to create a sound that is genuinely creepy. This creepy sound continues with “Norris Lake”, where a mournful moan adds onto the first set of vocals to create something that is again many times more solid than a simple set of vocals. The first real hit on “Unsafe Structure” comes during “Julie”, which uses a sixties set of strings mixed with a very nineties type of alternative instrumentation to come up with an interesting plea for play.

The sound of “Unsafe Structure” jumps from creepy to just weird during “The Family”; the track may just be the only one to use pig noises that I’ve ever heard. When Lukkarila is trying to create serious music, what issues forth is relatively fun and listenable (this is evidenced during tracks like “Don’t Give Up”. When Lukkarila begins to experiment, listenability decreases and the experimentation does not yield the same results as more serious experimental artists – like Khanate or Eno. There are fourteen tracks on “Unsafe Structure” and I feel that the disc would succeed easier if a few of the weaker performing ones were dropped; there are middle of the ground type of songs like “Make Her Happy” that do espouse a solid style of arrangement while not seeming too vanilla. There seems to be quite a few times on “Unsafe Structure” where Lukkarila gets into a groove that results in a few solid tracks, but there are some confusing tracks strewn about that demolish any momentum that the disc may have accumulated.

“Dignity” seems to be a track that would be more suited for Voltaire than the down-home, almost backwards looking music of Lukkarila; the over the top vocals on this track pretty much are the only thing that stick out from what is in reality a pretty normal track. Where “Don’t Sit On Tables” strayed much closer to a formula than “Unsafe Structure”, this formula may actually have helped Lukkarila out as this album seems disjointed and without much in the way of a focus. Here’s hoping Lukkarila can create something much more coherent for eir next album.

Top Tracks: Carpenter, Lucy

Rating: 4.5/10

[JMcQ]