Publication:
MaximumRockNRoll

Author:
Felix Von Havoc

MRR #201
A few weeks ago MRR sent me on assignment to Scandinavia to report on two festivals. As readers may have noticed I'm pretty crazy about Swedish and Finnish punk. The primary occasion of my visit was the festival at Lepakko, a legendary spot for punk gigs. As far as I know Lepakko was squatted in the early 80's and hosted many of the most legendary punk shows in Helsinki. Finland had one of the greatest hardcore scenes in the early 80's with tons of great bands in Helsinki and nearby Tampere. Today Lepakko is more like a typical nightclub, but remains steeped in punk history. Finnish cell phone corporation Nokia has apparently decided that it needs a bigger parking lot and therefore Lepakko must be demolished. However, the Helsinki punks decided it was necessary to throw one last bash before their most hallowed hall was leveled. The two day festival featured one day of contemporary bands and a second day of mostly 80's bands. Some really big names from days of old were splashed across the flyer, Terveet Kadet, Riistetyet, Appendix, Kaaos, Problems and some "surprise" acts. There was much speculation that the surprise acts might be Lama or Rattus but that didn't turn out to be the case. As for the gig itself hopefully Markku's report and photos will also be printed in this issue. The Lepakko fest was pretty cool. There were about 500 people in attendance each night. Everybody seemed to be having a blast, and enormous amounts of alcohol were consumed. By the end of each night about 10% of the audience was passed out on the floor. Of the re-united bands that performed some were truly inspired and others very sloppy. Many bands clearly hadn't practiced in 15 plus years and were too drunk to play even if they had retained some of their musical skills. But old time Finnish punks told me that most of these bands were too drunk to play in their heyday as well. Riistetyet were really good, very energetic, as was Appendix. One band I never really listened to before this trip but made a big impression live was Problems? who mixed equal parts Stooges, Sex Pistols and Stones into an energetic mix of punk and rock. Kaaos who I really looked forward to seeing were laughably drunk, the bass player stumbled off and passed out after one song. The crowd seemed most fired up for CMX who are huge in Finland but I'd never even heard before. I spent the next weed hanging out with the hard drinking Finnish punks, frequently I was the only sober person for miles around. Straight edge hasn't caught on very big in the Finnish punk scene and I don't think I met anyone who didn't drink. A ferry ride across the Gulf of Bothnia brought me to Umea, Sweden for Punk Fest Three at Galaxen. Sweden was a big contrast to the Finnish scene being much more Americanized. This show was also drug and alcohol free, the exact opposite of Finland's wild drunken debauchery. The bands here were all contemporary but Sweden's music scene is one of the best anywhere so many of the bands were world class in their own right. I'd have to say I enjoyed DS 13 the most, and I'm happy to announce that I'll be setting up a US tour for them this summer. Also mind blowing was Nasum who are the fastest tightest grind-core band I've ever seen (with the possible exception of Yacopsae). Skitsystem played a great set and I was really impressed with Section 8 who are one of the best SEHC bands around today. OK show reviews are dead boring so enough of mine.

I've often wondered about why Scandinavian punk is so great. Here are some observations, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland are among some of the richest and most stable nations on earth. Across Scandinavia there is a high standard of living. Scandinavia is home to a brand of democratic socialism with its roots more in the Lutheran church than in radical class consciousness. There is a great emphasis on social equity and the state takes care of many things Americans pay for such as education, and health care. The infrastructure is for the most part modern and functions smoothly. Don't get me wrong I'm not idealizing Scandinavia as a sort of socialist utopia, I know it has its problems but compared to the Third World or even America the Scandinavian countries are incredibly orderly, safe and equitable. So why the emphasis on a youth culture bred from discontent and rebellion? Well look at the rise of punk in America. Punk has its roots in the garage rock of the bored suburban teens of the 60's. In the 80's when America took up the ball Britain had been running with the new music was Hardcore. And there is no denying that hardcore was the youth culture of the suburban middle class. Indeed one of the main strains of the hardcore youth culture has been rebellion against the sterile environment of the middle class suburb. For the rebel and the outsider of the 60's or the 80's the monotonous and antiseptic environment of the suburbs was the breeding ground of radical discontent. This discontent flew in the face of what their parents thought was the best possible environment for breeding happy, well adjusted, productive children. So then we see in Scandinavia a replication of the same process, a society of relative abundance breeds a class of rebels against that very abundance and the dehumanization inherent in its replication. While kids in Jakarta or Medellin might have a more legitimate context from which to embrace a rebellious youth culture they in general do not have the means to put this rebellion into a recorded format and attain global distribution. But this doesn't explain why Scandinavian punk is so great. Living in this relatively affluent society it is easy to find time to learn to play an instrument and likewise find the means to purchase equipment and record. Scandinavia's punk scene early on was one step behind what was going on in England and elsewhere but as in Japan the sound copied from the English was improved upon and made into a more distinct and unique style of its own. Not as many foreign bands tour in Scandinavia as say Germany or England so the punk scenes there had to rely more on local talent, and bands (especially in the 80's) are more likely to sing in the native tongue. But none of this adequately explains why Scandinavian punk is so great. Perhaps the determining factor is the long and harsh winter. In the long, cold, dark winter months there is nothing better to do than practice, practice and practice until you are the best punk band on earth. And when the standards are consistently raised around you by all the other bands that practice so diligently it raises the bar for everyone. Perhaps this is the final explanation. This would conveniently also explain why Minneapolis has so many great punk bands as well. I think I am on to something. Now lets talk about punk in Finland.

Finland is a nation of 5 millions across the Gulf of Bothnia from most of Sweden, bordering on Russia in the East. The Finns are part of an ethno-linguistic group that is scattered across northern Russia and Siberia they are neither Slavic nor Nordic and their language is quite unique, only Estonian and Karelian are similar. In the past Finland was part of either the Swedish or Russian Empire and has been independent only in the 20th century. Today Finland is a prosperous and technologically advanced country. The Finns are quite taciturn and tend to keep to themselves in public. This reflects a sort of paradoxical duality as Finns are also some of the heaviest drinkers on earth and when they party its total obliteration. This sort of contrast between uptight self centered reflection and wild abandon is no doubt a result of the harsh environment. I've never been anywhere where public drunkenness is so widespread and accepted. Finland's punk scene is much more friendly and outgoing than the rest of the Finnish society. All the punks I met were super nice and spoke very good English. Indeed, everyone in Scandinavia seems to speak pretty good English. However, language is one of the main things that has allowed for the unique development of Finnish punk. Since the very beginning Finland has had its own music scene with bands singing in Finnish and playing mostly for a Finnish audience. Finland remains on the periphery of Europe so is not as exposed to outside musical differences or hundreds of touring American bands. I know from experience of living in Minnesota that you get zero touring bands in the winter regardless and you have to rely on your own bands to keep the scene alive. Finland is one of the least Americanized scenes of anywhere I've been. I spent two days at a gig attended by over 500 people each night and saw NO FAT PANTS! Indeed, Finland's punk style is still very much rooted in the 80's punk style, mohawks, studded leathers, big boots. The gig at Lepakko actually reminded me a lot of gigs I went to at the Wilson Center and the Landsberg in DC in the early 80's. Considering there were this many totally drunk punks in one place I saw NO FIGHTS. I was told that one of the main reasons for Finland (and the rest of Scandinavia) having such a non violent society is the harsh winter. If you are a trouble-maker who is always starting shit, no one will come to your aid when you need help in the winter. This sort of societal cold shoulder keeps a lot of people from starting stupid fights that would be common place in America. This said Sweden has recently experienced a wave of violence by Fascist Skinheads and other right wing extremists. This has shocked the peaceful Swedes. (it's the sort of murder, bombings, robbery and beatings that right wing extremists have been doing here for years) Lots of punks I talked to think that the police have allowed the fascist right to grow strong by spending much of their energy in the last few years investigating animal rights activists.

There is an excellent discography book of Finnish punk. Suomi Punk 1977-1998 by Jarkko Kuivanen is the best and most complete discography book yet published. (Yes, even better than the Pogographie was for German punk) Here is every record by every punk and hardcore band in Finland from 1977 to last year with all the track listings, and lists of band members and what other bands they went on to play in. Very well laid out and impeccably researched this is an invaluable resource for fans and collectors of Finnish punk. I hope that other compilers of discographical information take note of this accomplishment and emulate it. Of course the book is entirely in Finnish but you can quickly figure out how to use it with no knowledge of Finnish. Because rock and roll is the universal language.

Finland had an active punk scene from the very start and I point you all to the compilation Bloodstains Across Finland and its liner notes to get the scoop on the early period of Finnish punk. I hate to promote CD but the CD version of this comp has some additional material including a track by Systeemi who are in my opinion one of the best early Finnish punk bands. Regardless, in the 77-80 period Finland produced a lot of records by bands like Briard, Widows, Ypo-Viis, Eppu Normalli, Pelle Miljoona, Karanteeni, Loose Prick and Problems?. In those days Finland had a domestic record industry that was willing to release records by the new bands, Poko Records, Love Records and Johanna Records cranked out singles by punk bands well into the 80's. Once again Finland's relatively small size and isolation from the rest of Europe had promoted the growth of a relatively self sufficient music scene into which punk was inserted. The liner notes of Bloodstains across Finland end with "Punk sort of died in Finland in 1980/81 and the march of hundreds of Hardcore bands started." Well, lets hear it for hundreds of hardcore bands because that late 70's stuff is sounding pretty dated and Hardcore still marches on.

Hardcore really took off in Finland in the early 80's. It was first brought to most Americans attention by this magazine and the Welcome to 1984 compilation. To Americans the best known Finnish hardcore bands are probably the ones who appeared on this comp. Rattus and Terveet Kadet, but there are tons of other great HC bands from Finland from the 80-84 period that never really got much exposure outside of Finland. Most well known are Appendix, Riistetyt, Lama, Varaus, the Bastards, Kaaos, Tampere SS, Kansan Uutiset, and Kohu 63 but there were tons more (such as some of the bands listed on the comps below). The most prolific hardcore label of the period was Propaganda records. Propaganda licensed its catalogue to the German label Rock O Rama. Rock O Rama is of course a dodgey Nazi label releasing things like Skrewdriver and Bohse Onkelz Lp's but for whatever reason a lot of German and Finnish punk wound up being released on this label. I think a lot of people didn't know about the Nazi connections until much later. In any case the Rock O Rama pressings seemed to find their way into the USA a lot more often than the Propaganda pressings. Chris X of BCT Tapes also helped to expose a lot of Finnish bands in the USA by putting out compilation tapes of out of print or unavailable stuff from Finnish bands like Rattus. Ratcage Records of NYC released a Rattus album and for whatever reason Finnish HC was very popular in Brazil so there are Brazillian pressings of some Rattus vinyl. Outside of this stuff most Finnish HC was distributed only in Finland. And in such a small country pressing quantities were usually quite small. Some as low as one or two hundred copies. Even the best known bands internationally like Rattus were only pressing 500-1000 of each release. I guess this was pretty common in the early 80's but these are pretty limited quantities considering the demand even today. Which is why of course Finnish Hardcore from the early 80's is now quite popular with collectors. Since many bands remained unknown outside of Finland until recent years (and since most kids collecting records today weren't born yet when these records were new) there has been a lot of re-issue activity lately. Grand Theft Audio has re-released some classic Rattus, several Finnish labels have re-issued old material on CD, Lost And Found got in on the act with a Kaaos CD, there have been bootlegs of Rattus early material, as well as the Hardcore 83 comp. and lastly Fight Records of Tampere Finland has done several vinyl re-issues (with more to come) which have been licensed for the USA by none other than my own Havoc Records.

When is this guy gonna shut up and talk about the records... OK here you go. My personal favorites from this era are Kaaos, Riistetyt and the Bastards, but to tell the truth all this old Finnish HC rules. It tends to be hard driving and aggressive with really biting chainsaw guitars. There was (and still is) a tendency for lots of reverb on the vocals and sometimes in the whole mix. The drumming is sometimes all over the place but usually conforms to a straight ahead D-beat. Over all the Finnish bands were taking their cue more from early British Punk HC like Discharge, Disorder and Chaos UK but they definitely cranked it up a notch just as was being done in America and Japan with the same music. The result was much harder, faster and more abrasive music than the English bands started out playing. Almost all the Finnish bands sang in Finnish and I think the language lends itself well towards raw and brutal hardcore, it's just difficult for us to sing along. There are plenty of shouted choruses but good luck deciphering this crazy language. This month I'm already running out of room so we'll just talk about compilations. As you would guess such an active scene lent itself easily to compilations. It seems like a lot of bands were side projects or whatever that contained members of other better known bands. Than again there were the bands that were only around long enough to make a comp. appearance. Regardless of these factors the comps below are loaded pretty heavily with well known bands from the period and would be a good place to start if you were interested in 80's Finnish Hardcore.

Russia Bombs Finland comp came out on Propaganda in 1982 (Pro-005) and featured two to five tracks each by the Bastards, Antikeho, Kaaos, Nato, Terveet Kadet, Riistetyt, 013, Maho Neistyt, Appendix, Sekunda, and Dachau. How can you go wrong with a line up like that. I'm told this was recently released on CD as well.

Propaganda liked to release compilations to promote its bands and Hardcore 83 was no exception. (Pro-11) This killer included Kansan Uutiset, Riistetyt, Jakke & Lateria, Aparat, Rattus, Tampere SS, Protesti, Alamaailma, Kuolema, the Bastards, HIC Systeemi, Fucking Finland, Destruktions, Marionetti, Maanalainen, Sekunda, Takuu and Varaus.

Finnish Spunk-Hard Beat LP came out on Rock O Rama records in 1984, (RRR.41) and this might be easy to find today because it was recently bootlegged under the title Hardcore Holocaust (Fuckin' Finland Records). This classic included tracks by Riistetyt, Bastards, Hic Systeemi, Kaaos, Destruktions, Vaurio, Poikkeustilla, Rappio, Appendix, Varaus, Klimax, Lahden Raivaus, Nussivat Nunnat, Tampere SS, 013 and Terveet Kadet. A lot of these tracks appeared on other releases, but then again many didn't. This is a realy great comp. with almost all the bands being far above average and mostly fast hardcore, just a few play more mid-paced punk rock.

There was one great 7" comp. from this period Lasta-Op ST Records 1984 with songs by Terveet Kadet, HIC Systeemi, Riistetyt, Kansan Uutiset, Sekunda, Kauneus and Terveys, Poikkeustila, Bastards, Purkaus and Markkinointioperaatio. I'm guessing that since this was a 7" comp. the label asked for short songs and what you get are some short fast raw thrashers here. Once again some material available elsewhere but there are some really raw and raging tracks here.

There was a fanzine in Finland in the day called Barabbas and they did a compilation LP called Yalta Hi-Life in 1984. A fold out poster type sleeve (but only one sided?) this featured Terveet Kadet, Varaus, Aparat, Aivoproteesi, Kaaos and Kansanturvamusikkikomissio. Three to eight songs by each band, so a more in depth look than some of those comps with only one or two tracks by each band.

I'm not too crazy about live records but when Propaganda put out a live LP they weren't fucking around. Check out Propaganda Live (Rock O Rama RRR 42) from 1984 with the Bastards, Poikkeustila, Terveet Kadet, Lahden Raivaus, Fucking Finland, Raato, Vapaa Kalja, Varaus, Maho Neitsyt and Riistetyt. This is not quite a greatest hits live records but pretty raging and you can imagine yourself at the gig with a bunch of kids passed out on the floor and lot of really drunk guys with mohawks thrashing around.

As was the case with a lot of other great bands from the 80's a large number of Finnish HC bands embraced metal and lost their hardcore roots in the mid to late 80's. The popularity of Finnish hard rockers Hanoi Rocks seemed to make a lot of aspiring rock stars take note and change to a more metal or glam look and sound. However, Finland still has some of the best bands around. There are a number of great bands, labels and zines. Check out the zine Toinen Vaihtoehto which has been going for over ten years with great coverage of Finnish punk and politics, OK its in Finnish but if you are looking for records and distro's most of the ads are in English the address is T.V./PL 1/65200 Vaasa/Finland. Some great contemporary Finnish bands to look out for are Uutus, Selfish, Kansandemokratia, Juggling Jugulars, Unkind, Agenda, Diaspora, Oheisvasara, Wasted, Totuus, Positive Negative, Forca Macabra, and lots more. Next month, more Finnish HC from the 80's!

Publication Date:
January 1, 1988

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