Yes, “The band they couldn’t hang” still seems to be the catchphrase of Finnish indie pop act Red Carpet even though they called it quits in the end of year 2007. I myself witnessed their lovely goodbye gig in Helsinki on November 28th. All in all, I saw the band about five times and it was always such a thrill to hear those beautiful melodies and harmonies.During its existence, Red Carpet brought two fine pop albums to the world: Halfway (2003) and The Noise of Red Carpet (2005). I’ve especially concentrated on the latter, and it really is a solid album of melancholic, gentle, uplifting, and charming guitar pop. The band's music has been compared to Teenage Fanclub, Buffalo Springfield, CSNY and Simon & Garfunkel, for example.
Why I actually decided to write about Red Carpet was that I noticed they have quite many songs at Last.fm – and they’re free downloads! So, go there and hear the absolutely fabulous and gentle songs Blood Sweat and Tears, When You Sing, Golden Days, Reminder, and the amazing baroque pop beauty of Sigh. Sigh, indeed... And don’t forget to listen to the oh-so-lovely song about every 9-year-old boy’s favorite moment, My First Goal! All these songs are from The Noise of Red Carpet album.
Also go to their MySpace, you’ll find a couple of other tracks there, including a cover of Finnish electropop duo Viola’s Sad Eyed Disco Dancers, and a song from their farewell CD single The Band They Couldn't Hang (2007), a song called Death of a Band.
Red Carpet band members have continued making music in other projects. Veli Kauppinen has a project called Tolbiac, and Petri Nakari makes sweet pop tunes as The Wonderminers. It’s really great that such talented guys keep up the good work, even though Red Carpet is no longer among us.
Red Carpet at Last.fm (free downloads)
Red Carpet at MySpace
Tolbiac at MySpace
The Wonderminers at MySpace
2 comments:
i remember having a cd of various finnish powerpop bands a few years ago and not being very interested in what i heard...it was mostly punky or garagey, certainly not melodic enough for my taste and the few bands that were not noisy in the wrong way were a bit lacking in the songwriting department.....
later i got into the Latebirds and particularily the Latebird solo album, top class stuff and now thanks to you Red Carpet who are everything you claim...great songs, beautifully played, another top class act...thanks for the heads up
mick dill
Nice to hear you enjoyed the music! If you already haven't, check out the coolest Finpop site at http://www.onechord.net/ - I'm pretty sure you'll find some more bands to your liking there. The site has a nice variety of different styles represented.
Well, the noisy/not noisy question is a matter of taste.. In any case, Finnish pop is certainly more than just a bunch of average punky and garagey bands. I hope you'll find more evidence of that gentler side of Finnish pop!
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