Troubles crash in with Red Alert, a debut LP that feels like it was recorded in a leaking basement and wired straight into your pulse. The Finnish trio deal in blown-out garage punk with riffs and vocals that compete with each other to see who is the rawest and grittiest. You’ll understand, this is the kind of music that sounds better the louder it gets, recommended for fans of bands like The Coathangers and Dead Moon.
The ten original songs delve into obsessive love, mental unrest, and bodily anxiety, where toxic relationships, intrusive thoughts, and self-image blur into something almost supernatural: “Let me break apart // Then make me whole again” (from Swallow Me). It’s all ghosts and guts, with heartbreak and desire tangled with illness, rage, and a stubborn, feral will to survive it, fitting the jumbled yet catchy performance.
The record was named album of the month by Radio Helsinki, which tells us radio over there is doing something right. The band skipping Spotify on principle only adds to the appeal.
Red Alert—recorded, mixed, and mastered by Ville Valavuo—is out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Blue Bear Records. Featuring Ida-Lotta (vocals, guitar), Laura (vocals, bass, piano), and Mikko (drums, percussions), who do not reveal their last names.