Siinai: Olympic Games

Siinai
Olympic Games
Splendour
2012-02-28

This Finnish outfit barely has a year of existence behind it, but that apparently is no deterrent in making a full-length album. Pity, really, because maybe with a little more time to percolate, the ideas here would be multi-dimensional. Instead, a flat, underdeveloped vibe prevails. The quartet has been hailed as some sort of neo-Krautrock messiah, but it’s more like Enigma trying to sound dark. Siinai misses the playfulness and depth of Krautrock (neo or otherwise) and instead just drones. There are some decent moments––“Munich 1972” is appropriately unsettling; “Finish Line”, although burdened with cheesy keyboard lines that seem culled from a direct-to-video release circa 1986, actually proves enjoyable.

RATING 4 / 10