Ja Tik Butu

Originally released in 1978 on Pennine Records, two catalog numbers before they issued the famous Rosemary Lane album by Tickawinda! Even European music might can quite an exotic feeling and Latvian rockers Alva are the living proof. Based in England when they released their sole album, Ja Tik Butu..., they fell straight into the folk rock genre with their cross of melancholic, even slightly psychedelic rock and colorful, mystifying Baltic folk - all in the middle of the UK punk explosion. Their music has a raw rock edge, with haunting melodies that entwine around your mind like ivy. The result is mind-expanding and you can be sure that this is something you will hardly have experienced before in such a radical form. Folk, melancholic rock, and laid-back punk rock meld into one enchanting sound, with Baltic folk holding the biggest share in the overall picture. The punk feeling, on the other hand, is the result of the energetic playing, while all the musicians are as skilled as a band should be - Alva leave the sloppy performance always associated with punk rock to others. They even reach a post-punkish area with the strange, humorous, yet somehow anthemic Vilcienu Dziesma. Alva could have inspired fans of 1960s garage rock, haunting Eastern European gypsy folk, and more sophisticated punk rock, and become a major force in the rock world if the business was just a little bit more fair. This album is like a trip through an idyllic landscape, but the constant feeling of an uproar backing up the flaming melodies. Listen with a free mind and you will be dragged into a world of sheer beauty and joy.