Tehosekoitin

When I first came to Finland I found out that there are great musicians and bands in this country, specially in the rock scene, but perhaps due to language issues, I was not very interested in those bands because they were singing in a way too difficult language; furthermore I considered that Finnish language did not necessarily fit in rock music. Indeed, most of Finnish bands who have succeded abroad are English-singing bands, such as Nightwish, Stratovarius or HIM. Well one may think that singing in English is something essential for a band to go abroad. However, some posts ago I stated that Berri Txarrak, a 100% Basque singing band, is touring in Japan, Germany and recording in the States. This is in my opinion something positive. The band I'm gonna talk about today is a Finnish band that eventually tried to translate their songs into English in order to succeed in the international scene but failed. Perhaps because they are perfectly authentic and good in Finnish language and their music should not do any artificial exercise such as translating themselves in English. I personally think they could have succeeded abroad singing in Finnish because they are a great and own an excellent attitude and energy. They are "Tehosekoitin", what means "Blender" in Finnish.

The band's name can make reference to their ability to mix a number of styles and make something preserving a homogeneous style, mostly due to the voice and melodies of lead singer Otto Gündstrom. He is a real singer, spitting beautiful melodies and an sleazy yet sentimental attitude that smells like Zippo gasoline. This Lahti based band started in the early 1990s while they were teens, but became more popular at the end of the decade with some rock-pop hits. During last couple weeks I have been enjoying with this nice band. They are not active any longer but they have a fascinating heritage. I listened to "Freak Out" and "Rakkauden Gangsterit" (gangsters of love). In these albums, you can find country, jazz, pure rock'n'roll, funky, campy 70's motown stuff, Finnish schlager music (Iskelmä), instrumental surf, Blues, Manchester music (the hit valonkantaja), guitars, synths, organs, violins, clarinets and a musical atmosphere that really impresses. They deal with any style because they are good enough. Lyrically, the songs are powerful, indeed Gundström has at some stage published poetry books.

If you are interested in Finnish music, I think this band is essential because it's pure and authentic, and they definitely show where they are from. They are fresh, funny, sympatethic and very very entertaining. I just love them.