Boko Maru - "Dreamland" (FunPro Records)

Album review by Danny Alexander

Boko Maru's tendency toward the audacity of 70s art rock (as a broad category linking Steely Dan to Kansas) is both annoying and exhilarating. It is annoying because these five slick technicians can sound emotionally contrived when they need to be punching the gut--as on the bluesy "Hungry for Your Love." By contrast, the more ambiguous "Flesh Colored Mazda" goes all but giddy over its Latin rhythms. Which brings us to what is most exciting about this band: songwriters Terry Swope and Todd Wilkinson are willing to lead this music anywhere--from the drama of an ill-fated backroom deal to a fantastic tale of Miles Davis's death to an insightful look at the question of poverty in the world's richest nation. What these cuts lack in edge they all but compensate for in boundless ambition. And this band has the musical chops to pull it off. It's too bad that so many cultural walls divide our local music scene because any player here could teach volumes to the typical Westport alternative rock band. At the same time, the young turks may have a thing or two to teach Boko Maru about the kinds of beauty that don't always sound quite so pretty.

For more information about Boko Maru, visit the band's web site at www.bokomaru.com.

--Danny Alexander