Not to be confused with the Russian pop singer of the same name, Finnish garage-rock band Varvara recruited esteemed Swedish producer Pelle Gunnerfeldt (The Hives, Refused) for their third effort – ‘Death Defying Tricks’. Their derivative sound owes to certain seminal releases by influential indie acts of the 2000s, while on a basic level aspiring to the brutish rock’n’roll of the Rolling Stones. Though initially seeming one-dimensional, ‘Death Defying Tricks’ rewards repeated listens through a revealing of sharp attention to detail.
Mikko Kiri channels Julian Casablancas with a softly distorted vocal, unfailingly cool and often scarcely audible. Despite this, he delivers a number of wryly amusing lines which endearingly often fail to entirely bridge the language gap. Indeed, he often settles for a well-placed profanity, which is curiously satisfying – and another nod to Casablancas.
While The Strokes’ influence extends to the dominant guitars, crisply overdriven and raggedly interweaving, Varvara are not a band limited to or confined by their reference points. The middle 8 of ’Caught’ is that rare moment in a song – one that may induce an involuntary smile and shake of the head at its genius. Kiri’s croon shifts to delicate falsetto over a lone guitar, before the introduction of brass ushers in the final chorus. It’s a stunning ninety seconds, indicative of genuine talent.
Elsewhere, single ‘Human Being’’s stabbing bass gives way to a euphoric chorus, while ‘Arrows’ draws on early Radiohead, but with meatier riffs and more brass. The faint keyboard on ‘Since We Can’t Explain’ is a further surprise late in the album, but it never feels misplaced.
‘Death Defying Tricks’ is an intriguing piece of work. First impressions are indeed deceiving, and don’t for a second believe that this is landfill copycat indie. It has the unmistakeable air of a group yet to truly discover they own identity, but frankly, Varvara sound as if they are perfectly content with that.
3.5/5
’Death Defying Tricks’ by Varvara released on November 4th on Haminian Sounds.
Varvara links: Website|Facebook|Twitter|Bandcamp
Words by Peter Stewart (@pstewart0)
