The biggest inside climbing arena in Nordic Countries is our newest retailer. If you happened to be around, pop in and you’ll be amazed by the size of this place. Anyways, Fred Sandiego T-shirts are sold there for only 27 Euros.

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In 2007, Blanket, unleashed its magnificent debut album, This Is the New Wave of Political Rock, through its Independent Fruit Company collective and it’s a record bristling with intelligent, energetic rock music, which despite being vitriolic and highly political, somehow manages not to come across as preachy and self righteous. This could be down to the fact that there is a great deal of humour in Blanket’s work too, as evidenced by the song I Don’t Want To Be A Software Developer, as well as the album’s cover art and the band’s ongoing commitment to the Moose Liberation Front, which is admittedly a humorous approach to the serious fact of human disregard for nature in the name of progress.

It is hard to believe that this four-piece from Helsinki, Finland made its album in a rehearsal room, rather than a recording studio and this is testament to the production skills of Clark Kent frontman Jaakko Rikko. Some of the album’s more outstanding moments include vehement attacks on: the Iraq war in Eyes Wide Shut; suicide bombers in Action; the absurdity of the concept that each of us has a different value, depending on our country of origin, in Ivalo and US foreign policy in Henry the Killer.

These four songs, along with the guitar riffs of Interlude #1 and Reservoir are more than enough reasons to want to own this album and then share it – the CD is copy encouraged and even comes with a spare copy, to give to a friend.

Blanket have been in semi hibernation for the last couple of years, partly due to family commitments but probably also in part due to the sad fact that they are based in a country where original music that challenges the listener to think tends to be frowned upon, unless it comes from overseas.

Official website »
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Band members: Ville Könönen – vocals and guitar, Teppo Jalava – guitar, Willi Messmer – drums, Simo Särkkä – bass and backing vocals.

-Dass Dale

YouTube

Young promising skateboarders from Helsinki shot an awesome video for us. Thank you Mikko, Aku and Otso! Watch and enjoy!

We are proud to present Fred Sandiego’s Band of the Year: Sausage and Cheese. Selection was made by you -fans and friends. This Helsinki based indie band got the most votes, more than all the other bands together. Voting took place on Facebook.

You can listen to their music on their Myspace site. Sunset Island Radio
will be playing their music.

Band members: James (Vocals), Sasu (Guitar), Aku (Guitar), Klaus (Drums)

MySpace »

Read the Review

The fact that this four-piece from Ireland is still unsigned says a lot about the fecklessness of the music industry but the positive side is that Last Days of Death Country fulfills the unsigned criterion for our band of the month. The music is original and varied and while influences such as The Cure and Perfect Circle are apparent, the band has a consistent sound all of its own. The songs tend to adhere to the quiet/loud verse/chorus paradigm but the more challenging and impressive trick the band repeatedly pulls off is the lift from melancholy to euphoria.

Patrick O’Brien’s vocals are what give the band’s sound its edge and his voice has an uncanny quality through which it seems at once powerful and frail. The vocals are backed beautifully by melodic lead guitars and an inventive but unobtrusive rhythm section, the bass line on Venom being a particular delight.

The sounds are superb, which is hardly a surprise when one sees the names involved in the making of the band’s debut EP, the tracks of which are on myspace and bandcamp. The list of names Last Days of Death Country has performed with also makes for impressive reading.

Band members: Patrick O’Brien – lead vocals and guitar, David O’Dowd – lead guitar, Rob Kelly – drums, Gary Lysaght – bass.

Band Camp »

My Space »

-Dass Dale

Just shot some new material for Web Shop purposes. We gradually start adding new hoodies, Tees and caps to the shelves of the shop.

Madcraft is a fun band that seems not to take itself too seriously, as songs such as Let Me Breathe suggests. The second EP named Lovelock’d, is out. All four songs are invariably fast paced, energetic and intense. It is remarkable that a band that has been around for a short time is already able to offer such well produced, aptly arranged music. My favorite is “2 people 2 places” which is a pure metal song while other three can be put into pop punk category.

One of the strengths of this band is that they do a lot of gigs. There are not too many ways to win over the crowd. Kick ass live shows is definetely the most traditional and effective one. There are already new material on the way while writing this review. I am sure that Madcraft will strengthen their style of writing unique and cathcy songs.

Band members: Tom Nuorivaara (guitar/vocals), Juho Rinne (guitar/vocals), Samuli Hyttinen (bass/vocals), Otto Uotila (drums/vocals).

Official website »

Thank you Helsinki HookUp, we had a blast! We got a lot of new friends and broke many of our previous sales records which is always nice. We’ll see you all next year! We promise to be bigger and better then!

Enjoy the Official video

Härja, meaning “ravage” in English, is a relatively new three piece band from Sweden that makes music with hard rock sensibilities, mellowed by a combination of vocals mixed to the fore, a slower tempo and a drummer able to deliver what’s right for the song, rather than demonstrate how fast and loud he can play.

All but one of the seven self-produced songs available on Härja’s Myspace page include the name of an animal in the title and while this brings a smile to the face, it does not mean that the lyrics are facetious. In fact, they are perfectly in sync with the melancholy feel of the music.

The guitars regularly feature quick, irregular chord changes and while there are one or two moments when the melody and more unusual chords don’t quite work together, the attempt to challenge the listener is welcome and a good producer will be able to iron out these small wrinkles.

Band members: Mats Hoas, Pelle Dahl, Samuel Georgsson.

My Space »

-Dass Dale