Piece of the Action

A week ago, I witnessed my first gig of the year, and I really can’t help telling everyone about this extremely cool band. The band comes from a small Finnish town called Nakkila, and they are probably the favourite band of every alternative rock fan in the country. If they are not, they should be. They are Penniless.

The gig.. Man! The energy, the loudness, the amazingly catchy songs, the vocal harmonies, and the rocking sounds.. It was a gig I’ll never forget. The gig and all its greatness immediately made me want to listen to more of this band’s music. I actually bought their latest album The Attraction (2007) already when it came out but I never seemed to get excited about it at that time – it wasn’t clearly a time for rock music. Now, I’ve been enjoying this album for a whole week, and it just keeps getting better.. The eight listening was arguably the best – 20th must be even better!

According to various sources, Penniless’ music can be compared to bands and artists like Stone Temple Pilots, Weezer, Pixies, [early] Nada Surf, Bob Mould, Foo Fighters, and The Posies. I’d say the band also has something in common with other Finnish rock bands such as Sweatmaster and Hundred Million Martians. I’m not much of an expert because I haven’t even listened to Penniless’ entire catalogue yet, but I attend to.. The band used to be more punk-oriented in the past, I think, but nowadays their music is a nice combination of alternative rock and occasional power pop features. You won’t need to think too long to guess what the song Norman Blake is musically all about.

The Attraction is an utterly wonderful piece of rock music. I love every second of the album. Messenger was the first single, and it surely has some catchy riffs, among other good things. Opening track Action is also a killer, but Perfume is my personal favourite (check it out at MySpace). Tracks from #4 forward are all pure greatness: Police Dogs, Departures, Denial, Hitchhiker (“standing on the roadside!”). Cracks on the Road is the more peaceful spot of the album. In the end of the album you’ll find two more cool rock songs, Electric Blues and New Stuff. Then comes City Birds, a truly lovely song with emotion.. All in all, it’s a brilliant album. There’s energy, anger, other emotions, rock'n'roll attitude, melodic beauty, harmonies (interestingly some sections on the album sound like it’s Serj and Daron from SOAD harmonizing.. which isn’t necessarily the only thing that brings SOAD on mind), everything you need from a first class rock’n’roll experience. It’s got style!

Also, don’t forget to listen to Adam’s Apple Pie at MySpace! It’s the Posies.. No, wait, it’s Penniless after all…

Penniless at MySpace
Messenger Music Video
Adam's Apple Pie Music Video
Penniless Website (See Audio & Video section)