ALC #1: Takaisin

[mickilennial]

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Takaisin by Radio Supernova
Available on multiple streaming platforms.

Sounds Like: Shoegaze-drenched Post-Punk with some Indie Rock flashes
Origin: Finland

This one is an interesting record. Generally, it reminds me a lot of Sweden's own Makthaverskan, if they were influenced by The Chameleons and My Bloody Valentine.

It’s all entirely in Finnish, but language barriers don’t particularly bother me. What I love that this one comes out of the park strong and despite it not being sung in English I can get this sense of desperation and vulnerability through the vocalists bits. The guitar-lines are directly ripped from the pages of The Chamelons’ Script of the Bridge, one of my favorite post-punk albums of all time, of which I don’t get to hear many bands replicating the sound of in either the time of The Chameleons or in this post-post punk revival era we’re in. Situated underneath a lot of fuzzy, shoegaze ethereal distortion and reverb, it all creates a rather dynamic sound. It’s currently, as of this writing, my fourth favorite of 2021, standing comfortably behind Pom Poko’s Cheater, John Dwyer’s Witch Egg, and LICE’s Wasteland: What Ails Our People Is Clear. Seems to me that 2021 is off to an excellent start.

What’s your take on this record?

[Applerill]

Nooooo they removed the vomit emoji

[Repo]

Sounds cool, Gowi! I'll do my requisite three listens (my opinions are pretty useless until I've heard sth at least 3 times) and then give my 2 cents later this week.

Thanks getting this going! Looking forward to some good discussions.

\m/

[EyeKanFly]

Gowi your description was spot on. While personally I'm not a big fan of The Chameleons so I was a little nervous about diving into this, I thought it was fantastic. Definitely a strong January so idk where to put this on my chart, but it's near the top.

I personally don't mind the lyrics being in Finnish. The sounds of the language fit this style of music in a way that the harsher sounds of English fit well with hardcore punk. Not to mention, when shoegaze or punk music lyrics are in English, it can still be incredibly difficult for me to understand (I mean... MBV is borderline incomprehensible). The singer's voice is beautiful and fits into the music swimmingly.

On bandcamp they consider themselves "mansegaze" which I assume is something between shoegaze and post-punk, but I would appreciate someone else shining some light on this.
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51 Washington, D.C. albums!

[PossiblyMichigan]

S'alright. Not really what I look for in shoegaze (peak new shoegaze to me is a band like Draag who incorporates both 90's house and industrial influences) but this is certainly competent. Gowi, your Makthaverskan comment is interesting because this band really falls in line with Makthaverskan's label's ethos, Luxury Records and that's part of my reservations with it. It's the latest incarnation of a short but pretty gluttonously produced line of bands in that mold like Westkust (which shares members with Makthaverskan) or School '94. It's very much feels trapped in the world of Rasmus Hansen Scando "dirty pop".

That said some of the best tremolo pedal settings I've heard on stuff like Kadoksiin which is the highlight of the record to me

[Skinny]

To expand on what PossiblyMichigan said, 'Manse' is the nickname for the city of Tampere, known as 'the Manchester of Finland'. Manserock is a term more generally for Finnish-language rock music, therefore 'mansegaze' is presumably just Finnish-language shoegaze, with a potential nod to their home city.
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2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.

[EyeKanFly]

[Hayden]

Cool. Spotify's bookmarked. Should be able to give it a listen some point this week no issue. Want to make sure to give every album in these threads a listen this time around.

[Repo]

so I really like it. Scratches that 80s college rock itch for me. That time right b4 shoegaze hit. Kinda reminds me of that Breathless group you had me geeking out about a couple of years back, Gowi. I think The Chameleons comparison is pretty apt. Swirly post-punk guitars on a hazy psychedelic day.

Only listened once while I was helping my kids with their math homework and doing the dishes. so I'll post more later this week when I get more time, but I definitely liked it.

[Mercury]

I’m going to listen again. I listened 3 or 4 times in the middle of the night whilst playing Minecraft a couple weeks back and really liked it. The vocalist is excellent! I remember that much. They just absolutely soar over the walls of sound quite beautifully. It’s number 14 of 2021 for me as of now but after revisiting it may rise above some of the more typical Ryan-style faves. It’s good stuff.

I’m not very familiar with shoegaze and so to me a lot of these sounds sounded very fresh to me. Maybe if I was more versed in the genre I’d hear more obvious influences and this could either enhance or taint my enjoyment. Anyway, I’ll stop rambling and go listen again.
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-Ryan

ONLY 4% of people can understand this chart! Come try!

My Fave Metal - you won't believe #5!!!