Stringbeans (the) – You Better Do It
Raunchy FREP-002 [1985]
You Better Do It – I Just Keep Loving Her – Stomp and Climb the Walls – Born to Love One Woman
The Stringbeans was a Finish trio consisting on these recording of Sami “René” Roine on lead vocals and guitar, Ari ‘Pierre’ Kaukoranta on double bass and
Mika ‘Michel’ Lehtonen on drums. This is their debut EP recorded in early 1985.
The Stringbeans played a brand of fast neo-Rockabilly that showed the influences of Restless, Blue Cats, and Dave Phillips.
You Better Do It and Stomp and Climb the Walls are originals penned by Sami Roine. The former is kinda wild and has a bit of Psychobilly vibe in it à la early Batmobile while the latter is more in the style of Dave Phillips solo stuff.
The other two, I Just Keep Loving Her and Born To Love One Woman are covers, respectively of Little Walter and Don Johnston.
Stringbeans (the) – Total Jerk
Extacy Records – SBS-01
Total Jerk – I’ll Cry Instead
Stringbeans saw minor line-up changes since recording their debut EP in early 1985. By September 1985, Sami’ René’ Roine was still on guitar and vocals, but Ari ‘Pierre’ Kaukoranta switched from double bass to drums, and Ari Sjöblom joined the band on double bass.
That said, these are the main changes. Musically, the band remains in the same style as You Better Do It. The A-side is an original penned by Sami Roine that sounds like an outtake from Restless’ Why Don’t You Just Rock. It’s everything you can expect from a good Neo-Rockabilly tune: fast pace, clean guitar, sharp solo, and powerful slap bass. The B-side is a cover of the Beatles’ I’ll Cry Instead, which was made popular on the Neo-Rockabilly scene by the Polecats and later covered by the Nitros.
The singing is sometimes a little rough, but this minor flaw is largely compensated by an excellent guitar solo.
Fred “Virgil” Turgis
