Viisikko-IIII

Svart Records
2013

Maybe it was the lack of sleep last night (thus turning me into a ghoul in need of coffee), but I took one look at this album's art this morning and it made me giggle. I literally giggled like a little school girl. As odd as that sounds all it took was seeing our good friend Bud (from Romero's "Day Of the Dead") attached to a bull's (?) body to make me laugh. Bud's just hanging out there with a cut-and-paste assortment of ghouls and walkers and I found it rather funny. And that baby? I've actually seen some babies lately that look that goofy so hey, why not? It takes that little to make me chuckle I guess (especially on 30-40 minutes of sleep). Anyway, this Finnish hardcore/punk band (whose name translates to The Famous Five) has been together since 2007 and features an unknown line-up. Why they won't give any sort of line-up information is a mystery to me as you'd think they would want to take credit for this LP. For that matter who do you write the checks out to then at the end of the day? Do you just write "mystery band" in the blank part of the check? I wonder. I also wonder why I'm attempting a review when my eyeballs feel as if they might roll back into my skull. I digress though. These mystery guys churn out some tasty Black Flag meets the Dead Kennedys by way of the Dayglow Abortions style of punk/hardcore. It's angry and takes a good swipe at everything in it's path. The lyrics? That little part is also a mystery as they are not in English. To make it easier all-around let's just assume they are angry too. Onward we go to this short and sweet album. which was originally released  back in 2011 on tape (yes, cassette tape). Not only did "IIII" end up catching the attention of Svart Records, but it must have made quite the impression as it's now being reissued in a limited-edition vinyl format. It will be wrapped in gate fold covers so you too can sit and marvel at all the ghouls and infected folks gracing the album cover. I've got to hand it to Viisikko as a limited-reissue LP (just 400 copies) is a nice little deal for a band like this. They deserve it though folks. Despite my weird, sleep-deprived review here is the reality of the situation. This Finnish band has stumbled upon a killer punk/hardcore formula and "IIII" is a great pick-up and another album I'll be looking to track down.