Earlier today, we introduced you to Helsinki’s brand-new, red-hot hard-rockers the Feral Kids, who gifted us with their first video interview with an American music journalist. We dug a little deeper into the band by then running their list of the 10 Best Finnish Bands Ever, in the Kids’ estimation.
The Bad Penny couldn’t resist sharing its own two cents, lest we neglect and even betray our decades-long love for about a dozen bands that hooked and reeled us in over the past two decades. They’re in descending order below. (We narrowed our list to melodeth bands; rank what you know, right?)
Now that you’ve become acquainted with Helsinki’s brand-new, red-hot hard-rockers the Feral Kids – courtesy of The Bad Penny delivering their first video interview with an American music journalist – let’s dig a little deeper and get to know what other bands from their homeland of Finland really make them tick … or rock. Per The Bad Penny‘s request, the band submitted their list of the 10 Best Finnish Bands Ever, which is featured below.
Surprisingly, many of The Bad Penny‘s favorite Finnish acts who call(ed) the country home are not represented on the list: But hey, who are we to say, still having never set foot on the gnarly Nordic country.
Thus, without further ado, here’s the list that the Feral Kids passed along:
In their first video interview with an American music journalist, Helsinki’s brand-new, red-hot hard-rockers the Feral Kids talk about how they came together, what matters most to them as a band, and which Guns N’ Roses song rules above all the rest. The Feral Kids consist of Anti (vocals), Renko (guitar), Wuffe (guitar), Krisu (bass) and Rudy (drums).
If your tastes in music are liberal and erudite enough to encompass Khanate and Yakuza, you are living in sin with each passing moment you fail to avail yourself to Kilter. The instrumental metal-jazz trio from Paris and Brooklyn is counting down the hours till Kilter’s new album, Ten Billion Years, arrives via Excursus Production on June 19.
“A concept album depicting nothing less than the birth and death of our solar system, Ten Billion Years unfolds with cosmic-level grandeur, its instrumental compositions exploring spaces between the sounds of John Coltrane, Sunn O))) and Meshuggah,” reads a statement in press materials about the release. That jibes with us; does it for you?
If you’re sold, mark your calendar for a week from today, when Bandcamp hosts a Ten Billion Years listening party a week from today at 1 p.m. ET. And with that sneak preview still a week away, The Bad Penny is casting the spotlight on the burgeoning band by featuring them in the latest installment of our Favorite Films series. If the title doesn’t give it away, the ongoing feature allows musicians to share their favorite movies ever (and we usually publish it on Saturdays).
Buckle up (especially in the case of the first selection) for the picks that Kilter’s Laurent David (electric bass, production); Ed Rosenberg III (bass and tenor saxophones); and Kenny Grohowski (drums) handpicked for their installment of Favorite Films.
Definitely more horror than comedy, Sam Raimi nonetheless made an indelible mark in a short film that was part of master-of-the-macabre John Carpenter’s 1993’s anthology, Body Bags. (Raimi made a couple of cameos in it; keep yer eyes peeled. Horror king Wes Craven also makes a cameo, and one of the main roles.)
“Stranger,” the new song and video by Dexter and Six Feet Under actor Michael C. Hall’s band Princess Goes, is out today – and The Bad Penny has the honor of debuting it. The track is the first selection from the upcoming full-length by the band, which also features multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Matt Katz-Bohen (Blondie, Cyndi Lauper) and drummer Peter Yanowitz (Wallflowers, Natalie Merchant).
“Stranger” will be available for purchase on all major music providers tomorrow.
The three musicians founded Princess Goes in 2018 after vocalist/lyricist Hall met Katz-Bohen and Yanowitz as they all participated in performances of the acclaimed rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
After forming, the group put out two LPs and an EP. Their third full-length is due later this year and will be preceded by the release of additional singles.
Katz-Bohen touched base with The Bad Penny on Tuesday to exclusively discuss Princess Goes’ new song.
The 14 songs featured on Columbus, Ohio, native Winston Hightower’s second album, 100 Acre Wood, may be as short as the ones on its lo-fi predecessor, but they’re far more fleshed out with catchier and on-point rock music. Read my FLOOD review here.
Los Angeles post-hardcore Nuzzle belong to a very exclusive and special contingent of bands that only made one proper album but left an indelible footprint nonetheless. The band’s releases are limited; three of the four are a live recording, a collection of non-album tracks and a split single. But the fourth, Nuzzle’s first and only proper full-length, was so impactful that it warranted a 30th anniversary edition reissue late last year. The new version of Follow, for Now features a remixed sound that makes even more clear why the band made its mark despite its short lifespan.
Much to our delight, Nuzzle’s bassist – Simon Fabela – expressed interest in participating in The Bad Penny‘s ongoing Pet Sounds series. A cat lover through and through, take a gander at smile-inducing pics of his cats, Butter and Stormy, as well as some commentary Fabela provided in the form of answers to questions we sent him.
Brooklyn, New York, has no shortage of bands – specifically, ones considered to be of the indie-rock or post-punk persuasion. But while it’s tough to stand out among the crowd, LAPêCHE do so with catchy, addictive songs matched with impressive intellect. That goes for vocalist Krista Holly Diem – who initially incepted LAPêCHE as a solo project 10 years ago – guitarist Drew DeMaio, drummer Colin Brooks and bassist Dave Diem (Krista’s husband).
Enthusiastic about participating in The Bad Penny‘s On Tyranny series, Diem’s critical thinking skills were on full display in a Zoom conversation that took place a month ago. The interview began with Diem providing some background on LAPêCHE and commenting on the band’s their third LP, the recently released Autotelic (Tiny Engines). (The album title implies having a purpose in and not apart from itself, according to Merriam-Webster.)
The interview then segued into Diem waxing philosophical and sharing his profound-yet-crystal-clear beliefs about art:
“Music and art connects us, brings us together, so I think that creating art is an overtly political act, a form of radical compassion,” he said. ” ‘Radical acceptance,’ to me, is being mindful and responsive to a situation rather than being reactive. Acceptance … is really being honest and truthful about the situation, and then taking [the next right] action [that] keeps in mind yourself and how you impact others.”
Dallas trio Temptress – which feature Andi Cuba on drums and vocals, Kelsey Wilson on guitar and vocals, and Christian Wright on bass and vocals – have come a long way since forming seven years ago. The trio have cranked out two LPs (SEE in March 2023 and hear in January of this year) as well as an EP (Temptress in June 2019) that coherently and rivetingly mash up their love of old-school metal, alt-rock and post-rock into a distinct sound that’s all their own.
Perhaps even more impressively, Cuba, Wilson and Wright – all of whom were already tour vets when they formed Temptress – have developed a marathon-runner-esque endurance for spending time on the road. Already deep into a long series of dates supporting hear, the band makes a pit stop at Realms Arcade in Boise tonight for what will be, as anyone who’s seen them before will attest, a spellbindingly smashing good gig.
In anticipation of the concert, we caught up with Wright yesterday as the band was between gigs in Spokane, WA, and Moscow, ID.
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