Music Review: Finjarn & Jensen - Finjarn & Jensen

Finjarn & Jensen is one of those records that turns up every now and then that was previously thought to be lost to the ages. The lone LP from Svein Finjarn and Leif Jensen was only released in Norway, back in 1970. Leave it to German psychedelic reissue specialists Shadoks to unearth this treasure and make it available on CD for the very first time.

For most of the 1960s, the two had been kicking around separately in various Norwegian combos prior to joining a group called Jumbo. After recording two singles with the band, Finjarn and Jensen decided to split-off and record their eponymous album. The seven songs they laid down in a Scandinavian studio are prime latter day flower-power, with a few hints of psychedelia thrown in for good measure.

The first song, “One More Day” would have been described at the time as “heavy rock.” The tune has something in common with contemporaries such as Ten Years After and Steppenwolf. The guitar solo by Finjarn is a smoker, and recalls the great Leigh Stephens of Blue Cheer.

The hippie vibe takes over in a big way with “Blue And Peaceful,” a thoroughly groovy bit of whimsy. It is a vintage bit of Swinging London, circa 1967. A staple of all respectable late-sixties psych records was the drum solo. Leif Jensen obliges by mercilessly beating the skins on “What Else Can We Do?”

If there were any doubt as to the influences the two shared, it is answered definitively on “Lady Windsor.” Their tribute to British underground music is perfectly conceived. It is done so well in fact, as to come off as almost a parody of something like Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake (1968) from the Small Faces. It is a great cut.

The guys had pretty hip taste back then as well. The one cover song they chose was by “New Day,” by Jackie Lomax. It was the first single released from his lone (excellent) Apple Records recording, Is This What You Want?

Article Author: Greg Barbrick

Greg Barbrick is a Seattle native who was first published in 1988, in his hometown music magazine, The Rocket. Since then his work has appeared in print and online for numerous sources. He Googles himself so often that his mother told him it would make him go blind.
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