ON THE FIRST DAY

I borrowed this album from library after my research for unknown Finnish bands on the Archives. Soon I was deeply charmed by the music and felt happy of my discovery, since I'd be the first one to spread the word here. I even tried to contact the band but sadly it seems they are not active anymore. This 10- track debut contains extremely well done, fresh, Post Rock -flavoured indie rock sung in English. They have been compared to e.g. MEW and SIGUR ROS but are perhaps closer to pop (I don't mean they would sound commercial); the beautifully melodic songs stay economic and accessible, and yet they have a lot of dreamy, melancholic atmosphere and a cinematic rich sound. Everything's in perfect balance. Nearly too perfect for its own good.

Vocalist Aleksi Kaufman, who also plays guitar and cello, has a clean and sensitive voice that reminds me of the 80's pop artist BLACK known from the hit 'Wonderful Life', and of the singer of CRESSIDA. (There surely would be better, more contemporary references too which I can't spot right now.) The sincere delicacy of vocals is never buried under the Post-Rock grandiosity. The album has some sort of an Apocalyptic undercurrent beneath the light surface, and it's well captured in the cover painting too: the comfortably seated people wearing dark glasses are presumably witnessing a nuclear experiment. The lyrics are often quite sad and dystopic but wisely the music avoids sounding dark or depressing. The result is emotionally strong and beautiful.

As pleasantly as I was charmed at first, in the end I have to agree with the remark shared by many Finnish reviews (found via the band's stagnant homepage), that the album is "too orthodox" and lacks of greater surprises. The evenness of material and the atmosphere that stays pretty much the same throughout the whole album may become a problem on the long run. But anyway, what a waste if this extremely promising debut album will remain their last release.