Greetings, reader!
Iconic Finnish rock band Säätövara just released their newest album, titled Säätövara ja Kammotusten Kanootti. Having listened to this unbridled, game-changing masterpiece several times, I have now finished my ranking of its songs from good to even better to best. Here's my ranking of the songs on Kammotusten Kanootti!
11. Levykaupan Nainen
This melancholic slow rocker may be the least good out of the bunch, but there's still a lot to enjoy - the Simon & Garfunkel vibes of the intro, Olli Heikkinen's smashing guitar solo and Aaro Viitanen's clever lyrics where the universal feeling of seeing a beautiful lady in the record store but not having the courage to approach them is told about through various intertextual references to names of famous rock bands. It's cute, but it pales in comparison to many of the album's finer offerings.
10. Sheivaan
From the hilarious opening where hunky drummer Veikko Hoffman loudly counts the song in, Sheivaan is one wild ride. It's ranked this low due to its simplicity when compared to songs that work on more levels, but simplicity is by no means a bad thing - in fact, it is what makes this song so awesome in its own category.
It's a song about shaving one's beard, legs, private parts, and hair - one verse/chorus combo for each one, as the music video gleefully demonstrates. My favorite part is probably the break before the fourth chorus, where an actual razor was recorded to create the right adrenalizing atmosphere.
9. Karanteenibailut
The lead single ahead of the album's release is a groovy and catchy piece, written in the spring of 2020. The genius behind the song, guitarist/singer Aaro Viitanen, wanted to hurry up and get the song released while the Covid-19 situation was still relevant, before it would go away - looking back on it now, what a silly concern that was.
Anyways, Karanteenibailut has entertaining lyrics that float the idea of spending quarantine with all of your friends, locked in your apartment and partying through the whole ordeal. The music video was shot in the legendary apartment that 3 of the 4 band members have lived in, and an urban legend says that they really were very drunk while shooting the video, as a means of method acting and creating an authentic party feel to match the lyrics. Shout-out to the band's longtime friend and collaborator Jaakko Kiesiläinen for shooting most of the material for the video and editing it!
8. Keuruun La Mel
Inspired by a love for quality cuisine, this power ballad is a tribute to a fabled kebab restaurant in Keuruu, Finland. Background noises of cheerful dining help create the mood, as this sweet and tear-jerking ode to great food takes the listener on a tasteful and emotional journey. True fans will know that the song is a live staple of the band (it has been played on 25 of the band's 29 biggest concerts), with the running gag where drummer and dream bachelor Veikko Hoffman is always visibly eating something during the first half of the song, as there are no drum parts to play.
By the time the drums kick in, you better turn the volume to the max, as the song reaches its emotional climax. After that, the band calms back down again, for a final verse made much more memorable by Aaro Viitanen's hilariously out-of-place guitar lick, that serves as a reminder that laughter can be found in even the most delicious places.
7. Kuplamuovi
What better choice to kick off the album, than the hit single that has opened more Säätövara concerts than any other? Säätövara ja Kammotusten Kanootti sure opens with a bang, as one cool riff turns into another and yet another, before the mood settles in and the vocals kick in. From there onwards, Kuplamuovi is a delightful, radio-friendly banger of a rock song, with the coup-de-grâce being the drum solo played by drummer and international sex symbol Veikko Hoffman. Chills.
You should also check out this song's music video, which features the band having fun in a bubble-wrapped training space! In addition to Kuplamuovi being my favorite out of the album's three single releases, it also has my favorite music video out of the bunch.
6. Jussilta Kahvia
Säätövara's genre is often described as "Suomirock with a punk/funk twist", which raises a lot of eyebrows - how can a band balance punk elements and funk elements? Well, as it turns out, in a variety of ways. Some Säätövara songs lean more into funk influences and others in a punk direction, while some songs have a groove that draws from both genres.
However, the combination is at its most distinctive in Jussilta Kahvia, as the very funky verses draw a sharp contrast to the very punk-influenced choruses. Oh, and then there's the psychedelic-exotic guitar solo where the band reportedly asked producer Teemu Liekkala to go for a "George of the Jungle vibe", and that longtime mega-fan Ville Hoffman described as "Hendrix-like". So, I suppose there's a little something for everyone in this kick-ass tune.
5. Hei Taas
The album ends with an epic trilogy of interconnected songs, and while the middle part of the trilogy is the least great one, it's still quite something. Hei Taas is a longtime fan favorite from live shows, and it has been the final song of Säätövara's concert sets more times than any other piece. Between the heavy metal -influenced main riff, the Eppu Normaali -influenced verses, the wild choruses, the surprising reggae section after the second chorus, the humppa -influenced final chorus and the wailing guitar harmonies in the outro, I think it's safe to say that this song is chaos to the maximum. The eight tempo changes throughout the song (can you spot them all?) are further proof of this.
What I really like about Hei Taas is its position in the 'trilogy'. The main riff starts so magically after the final chords of Telkkarista, making for a great transition, although it pales in comparison to the even greater transition from Hei Taas into Muut Vanhenee. First-time listeners might be fooled into thinking that this song that often ends Säätövara concerts would be the final song, with its explosive 'stadium ending' outro, but on the album (as well as future concerts, one might speculate), this explosive outro is mere build-up to an even more epic song. But more on that later!
4. Säätövara
The band's title track is quite fitting, with lyrics that escalate from "Oh damn, I forgot my keys" to "Oh shit, I've woken up in Mexico after a drug smuggling operation gone wrong??". Essentially, these lyrics are a testament to the philosophy behind the band's name and their general energy - no matter what you do, things are going to go wrong in life every now and then, so you might as well be prepared for that and do your best to adapt. Let's just hope that things don't go quite as wrong as they do for Säätövara's narrator.
The anthemic choruses are enough to make this song into one of the album's finer offerings, but what really gets me is the instrumental jam section after the second chorus. Crazy drum fills, clever bass licks, amusing guitar melodies and exotic vocal wailing make for a solid base, while the addition of synthesizers, percussion elements from cowbell to kettle, and a freaking kazoo section give this part of the song a vibe of its own.
3. Notre Dame
It's the final chorus for me. Everything leading up to it is pretty neat as well, from the tongue-in-cheek lyrics about the Notre Dame burning to the minimalistic guitar solo by Olli Heikkinen. But really, the long and dramatic final chorus seals the deal. The preceding drum fill that slows the tempo down, the way the chorus just continues on and on with Heikkinen and Viitanen taking turns belting out memorable lyrical lines, and the emotional drum fills and dramatic bass licks by Hoffman and Montonen are just something else.
By the time the monk choir, church bells and sirens enter the mix towards the end, things reach Shakespearean proportions in quite a profound manner. The song may be in the middle of the album's track list, but when Säätövara plays live, Notre Dame is often in the tail end of the set, which makes for a sweaty and powerful performance where the band always gives 110 per cent.
2. Telkkarista
If you think of punk, a genre that has had a big influence on this suomirock band, as a mere music genre in terms of sounds, instrumental performances and compositions, you could argue that Sheivaan is the most punk song on Säätövara ja Kammotusten Kanootti - it's fast, it's raw, and it just sounds punk. But if you think of punk as something more, as a mentality, an attitude of raging against the figurative machine, as it were, then I'd say that Telkkarista is easily the most punk song on the album.
The song that opens the album's epic trilogy of final songs is a testament of fury towards the Trump era, populism and related phenomena, with the band playing with intense passion that fits the socially charged lyrics brilliantly. I also enjoy how long it takes for the song to build up the first chorus (making it a real payoff when the chorus finally hits), not to mention the powerful modulation just as Aaro Viitanen's blistering guitar solo transitions to the final chorus. After said chorus, we're treated to an outro that brilliantly sets the stage for Hei Taas's intro, making sure that the trilogy is on.
1. Muut Vanhenee
The final song of the trilogy, and the entire album at that, is my personal favorite. The way Hei Taas's chaotic outro magically transitions into this song's intro, and the mellow guitar work that follows, lay the foundation for a large-scale song that proves how even the silliest bands are able to occasionally get serious. Olli Heikkinen's emotional lyrics are the band's very finest work, and the way the song gradually builds up from subtle ballad into powerful rock anthem is quite something.
By the time the tempo starts to pick up at the tail end of Aaro Viitanen's scorching guitar solo, I can recommend turning the volume up to the very maximum, as the emotion this part provokes is best described by that one meme where the kid turns the volume up and raises his hand while openly weeping. With this ending that draws inspiration from the most dramatic songs of Green Day's American Idiot album, emotions run high while the volume is loud and the debut album goes out with style.
Thank you for reading! This was the last post of Music Month, so get ready for a return to my usual movie/TV themes, starting with next week's post that will have to do with the new Batman movie The Batman (2022) - I haven't yet decided whether I'll review it in the context of a 'Top 10 Batman movies" post, or if I'll dedicate a whole post to reviewing it with a 'Top 5 greatest things about The Batman (and top 5 things that didn't work)" post. Let me know if one interests you more than the other!
With literature and music now handled, I wonder what the next eventual theme month will be - possibly theater? Or football? Only time will tell...
P.S. my Oscar predictions went much better this time than the last two years! 17 out of 23 correct (and even the ones I didn't get right were mostly ones that I had called as close calls between two nominees, and they happened to go to the other one). Thankfully, Best Sound went to Dune like I promised, so I won't have to watch and review all of the Sharknado! movies. And while I had predicted for Will Smith to win Best Actor, I wasn't all too happy with the win the moment it happened - due to the ceremony's earlier happenings, him winning felt like a real slap in the face.
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