Once upon a time, Yo La Tengo headed north. As the days became longer and winter gave way into spring, their songs became popper and more optimistic. And still they traveled, finally making their new home in Helsinki and renaming themselves Kaskas. No?
Okay, how 'bout this one? Kaskas is "the little side project that could." An accidental success, their debut full-length "In the meantime" marries slacker rock, charming pop, lounge groves and fuzzy freak-outs together into a surprisingly agreeable sonic stew. A bit too experimental (and clever) for the mainstream, and a bit too classic to be labeled "art rock," the finnish quartet seems bent on carving out a new niche. And even though it's still a stone's throw from cohesive, they couldn't offer a more enticing first introduction. Vintage organs play with jangly guitar and tussle with raw percussion dotted with electronic beeps. Every song, from the 1970s smoking lounge opener "Night express 84", to the surf-ready melodies of "Fidel", to the bizarre spoken-word elements of "La tete", play like another avenue for potential exploration. While this leaves the listener with little to no idea who these guys might be (Slackers? Music students? Retro worshipers?), it's exciting to wonder what they'll try next. A fight to the indie death with a certain New Jersey trio perhaps? - Laura Studarus
finnish avant-rock act and "Reader's companion" alums Plain Fade will be releasing their new album "Anthropogonia" via this coming fall. Said album is a continuation of the group's collaboration with the WiOL-choir that performed live last November in Helsinki.
finnish metal acts Sotajumala and Deathchain have a new split CD out now via and the label was kind enough to send a copy my way. Conceptually speaking, it's a fun idea: two bands, one original song plus one Iron Maiden cover each. In execution however, all is not well. Things start off poorly with Sotajumala's "Sinun virtesi", a typical modern death metal track with clicky drums (heavy on the blasts, 'natch), burpy vocals and your usual swarm-of-bees guitar tone. Totally pointless, totally boring. Their Maiden cover on the other hand ("Prowler"), is excellent, no doubt helped along a fair extent by the appearance of one Paul Di'anno on lead vocals. Stop and ponder how sad it is that the dude is now reduced to doing karaoke covers of his old band's songs and the luster starts to dim, but he does actually sound remarkably good still, near 30-some years down the road. Deathchain doesn't fair nearly as well with their take on "Purgatory" -- they're way too stiff to approximate Maiden's trademark gallop and guest vocalist Tommi "Tuple" Salmela (Tarot) pretty much sucks. All is not lost though, Deathchain's one original cut ("The crawling chaos") is a total black-thrash rager in the vein of Grotesque or The Crown. All razor sharp riffs and harsh vocals -- definitely bodes well for the band's forthcoming album. I love Maiden and all, but this one song is the winner by a longshot.
finnish rockers Sweatmaster are finally back with a new single called "Turnover" which is now airing on finnish radio and will be released on 7" in the near future with "15 years", a leftover from the "Animal" sessions, tacked on as a b-side. Listen to both at their website: https://www.sweatmaster.net/news/turnover
finnish act Rubik will be touring the US with Christian rockers mewithoutYou and David Bazan:
06/02 - Off Broadway, St. Louis, MO
06/03 - Granada, Lawrence, KS
06/04 - Marquis Theatre, Denver, CO
06/05 - Murray Theater, Murray, UT
06/07 - El Corazon, Seattle, WA
06/08 - Hawthorne Theater, Portland, OR
06/10 - The Boardwalk, Orangevale, CA
06/11 - Chain Reaction, Anaheim, CA
06/12 - Henry Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
06/13 - Martini Ranch, Scottsdale, AZ
06/15 - Emo's, Austin, TX
06/16 - The Door, Dallas, TX
06/17 - Diamond Ballroom, Oklahoma City, OK
06/18 - Outland Ballroom, Springfield, MO
06/19 - Juanita's, Little Rock, AR
06/20 - M-Lounge, Birmingham, AL
06/21 - Hi-Tone Cafe, Memphis, TN
06/22 - Masquerade, Atlanta, GA
06/24 - New Brookland Tavern, Columbia, SC
06/25 - The Square Room, Knoxville, TN
06/26 - The Madhatter, Covington, KY
06/27 - The Eagle Theater, Pontiac, MI
finnish hardcore act Deathbed has confirmed that their new album "Birds of a coming storm" will be out in late May via . Hear a couple samples at myspace: https://www.myspace.com/killedbybed
Oddly fitting: tonight's Ja Ja Ja metal showcase in London has been cancelled due to Iceland's volcano shutting down all air traffic. However, all is not lost -- finnish act Thunderstone already made it to London and will be playing for free at The Lexington by themselves. Read more: https://www.jajajamusic.com/news.php?id=32
Kaskas