More often that not bands with amazing potential fall by the wayside. Whether it’s due to bad timing, bad press or simply not being trendy enough, some bands fail to resonate with a larger public. But good music always prevails. Sooner or later, be it a decade or two, these bands are bound to get the attention they deserve.
Finland’s Weepikes is a fine example of how one devoted fan can save a band from falling into obscurity. After forming in Helsinki back in 1994 and two EP’s later they disbanded after only three years.
In 2010 they caught the attention of Kramer, former member of Butthole Surfers amongst others and known for his work as a producer for bands such as Galaxie 500, Low, Half Japanese, White Zombie, Urge Overkill and 22-Pistepirkko. Kramer, also the man behind the Shimmy Disc label, was interested in working with the band and ultimately ushered them back into making music. This resulted in the 2012 “Weepikes EP”, which was also mixed and mastered in Kramer’s Florida-based Noise Miami Studios.
Previously this year the band released their first full-length album, “We Are Weepikes”. The Weepikes’ raw sound is built on fractured post punk and the kind of distorted noise rock that follows in the footsteps of bands like Dinosaur Jr. Album opener “Paranoid” is an aggressive number with spitting vocals and the album’s roughest track. Weepike’s ability to blend dirty, distorted guitar chaos with melodramatic melodies is beautifully demonstrated on the trebly guitar-flavoured “Nothing But A Soar”. As well as on the progressive longrunner “Falling Off The Carpet” and “Bad Valentine”, whose lo-fi vocals bring to mind My Dad is Dead. What The Weepikes have ultimately managed to do, is make a legendary album in the history of Finnish alternative rock.
In Between Songs 