Ambulance is an indie rock band from Finland (fun fact: formed a few years ago in Kouvola’s old accordion factory), featuring Roni Kola (vocals, bass), Erik Lintunen (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals), Pete Muurinen (guitars, backing vocals), and Joona “Bono” Rasalahti (drums). Their full-length debut album, aptly titled Factory Second, is a bold, shape-shifting ride through guitars and grit, alongside noise and melody.

The musicians stretch beyond straightforward alt-rock into more expansive, almost psychedelic territory, with influences from shoegaze, prog and krautrock. What stands out is the friction between tight, catchy hooks and a deliberately rough-edged delivery (in instrumentation, but even more so in the vocals), as if each track is racing against its own momentum.

The nine songs—closing track Babylonia lasts 10:42 and should actually count as three—swing between hypnotic repetition and bursts of distortion, keeping us listeners slightly off balance, but fully attentive next to the speakers listen after listen. And there isn’t even an accordion involved.

Factory Second—written, performed, and produced by Ambulance—is out digitally via Grey Beton Records.

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