A few years went by between the release of the debut album by the Czech Republic's
Divoky Srdce (Wild Heart) and its follow-up,
Kajuvej. The only common thread is singer Michal Ambroz, the primary songwriter. The four other members of the group have all changed. This album is a rocker: solid, hard-driving, yet very polished and radio-friendly -- to an extent where despite all its good points, it rarely rises above mediocre level. The group is tight and led by two, sometimes even three electric guitars (both Radovan Jelínek and Pavel Jordán contribute rhythm or E-Bow guitars when they don't play violin and keyboards). Ambroz's voice can be reminiscent of
Lou Reed or, to remain in a international context, a gutsier version of French singer
Renaud. Czech avant-rock singer
Mikolás Chadima also comes to mind, but only because of the low register. Ambroz likes to whisper; when he puts more passion into his voice it turns delightfully gravelly. There is a touch of reggae here ("Pomalu"; "Kajuvej" is built over a rocksteady beat), some banjo there ("Boure," the Czech conception of an Indian-American song, it seems), and a couple of ballads for good measure. All the ingredients have been poured into the pot, making
Kajuvej a good but highly predictable record. Lyrics are sung in Czech.