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Album of the Month
July 2017: Swedish Finnish
Kerist-a-mity. It is July. Fireworks. Road construction. In the great Pacific Northwest, hours of sun worship.
And we got your mid-summer enjoyment ready for mass consumption. Swedish Finnish. Now when you think Seattle Music City of course you think of Grunge Favorites (oh the beauty of “Touch Me I’m Sick”) or poppin’ tags with “Thrift Shop.” Of course! Well, time to change that! Time to get all West Seattle pop-music catchy as hell. The key to the Swedish Finnish pop magic are bodacious hooks that earworm their way into your brain, instantly memorable. Glorious three-part harmonies soar through songs, guitars intertwine and the beat is steady. Delicious summer-time slices of sonic heaven.
Swedish Finnish shout their influences loud and clear – the chunkachunk “Mine Is Better” channels some T. Rex; “Don’t Do Anything (I Wouldn’t Do)” is most assuredly a long-lost Ronettes song (with the boys doing the singing). “Hungover” and “Marla’s House” recall their biggest heroes, The (not from West Seattle) Beatles, while “I’m Leaving” takes the under-used chord progression of Them’s “Gloria,” and pounds it into a brand new context.
The Swedish Finnish Story starts with the Tina and Rod show. Rod has spent his entire life performing with a zillion bands – The Fuzz, Swallow, Green Handshake, Runaway Trains, Spike, Deranged Diction, no one could possibly keep track. During the couple’s 20+ years together, Tina attended nearly every damn show that Rod played, and in 2015, she decided it was time. She would play the drums. To the basement they went, sorting through bits & pieces from Rod’s Vast Archive of Unfinished Songs. Things began to take shape.
On a Tuesday, Andy Hoggarth, guitarist with Rod in The Fuzz, raised his hand to play bass. He only lived two blocks away, so to the basement he came. Next, guitar slinger/singer Scott Sutherland (Llama, Model Rockets, Chemistry Set) moved in next door. That was even closer than Andy; presto, Swedish Finnish was born.
Now for those of you intimate with the Green Monkey catalog, as you study the album credits you will instantly recognize Rod and Andy from The Fuzz (check out the mighty Best Kept Secret). And, of course, Scott Sutherland was one of the brains behind Ladies and Gentlemen, Your King County Queens as well as the guitar star of Tom Dyer’s New Pagan Gods.
Swedish Finnish is a 100% West Seattle band. So where is the best place for a Record Release Party? Only one place – West Seattle Summer Fest on Sunday, July 16 at 2:00pm. You got it – sunny afternoon rock in the Junction with all of West Seattle, plus you. The forecast is sunny and 74 degrees, so come on down!
We have rush-released the CD for their Fantastic Record Release. It will be available at the show and direct from Green Monkey for this week. The album will be available in stores and on iTunes, Amazon etc. starting July 21. So exciting!
What else do we have going? Well, on Wednesday July 19 the folk brothers Dante and Eros Faulk are going to open up for Darol Anger and Rushad Eggleston at the NOVA School 2020 22nd Ave SE in Olympia.
I am mixing a new Green Pajamas album that is pretty nice. Hope to have it wrapped up in the next couple weeks. I am also working on a new Tom Dyer album that should be even weirder than usual. Who doesn’t want that?
td July 2017