The Nature Of

This collection offers an unabashed peek into the peculiar phenomenon of veteran Finnish trio 22-Pistepirkko (translates as "22-ladybug"). The band's sound and diabolical dynamic, remarkably consistent over the span of the 17-year career embraced here, is a luminous, surreal, guitar-based electro-pop and proto-garage-psychedelia blended with elements of acoustic folk and spaced-out bohemian blues-rock.Easily one of Scandinavia's most eccentric and evocative pop acts, 22-Pistepirkko are like The Clinic in a prescription-only fog, The Kinks in keyboard overload, Primal Scream woozy on moonshine and maracas, a lo-fi Pet Shop Boys whose disco ball has escaped earth orbit, and T. Rex savant Marc Bolan, who 22-P vocalist PK is often compared to.22-Pistepirkko are slightly weird, slightly childish, slightly psychedelic, slightly awkward, slightly rockin', but mostly epic, genius, and supremely Finnish.

Disc one (1986-1994) leans on wired blues-tinged organ-driven garage-rumble and sublime vocal yelps, sizzling with fuzz-guitars and maracas... Truly a marvel of anthropological and historical musical freakery, everything the band does, from simplex to complex, is rendered in a deliriously odd way.

Disc two (1996-2002) finds the band exploring their synthier side, set loose upon a stack of mesmerizing pop songs, skewed melodies, luxuriant ambient textures, tweaked drum-n-bass brazenry, all performed on traditional instruments and lovingly swaddled in echoing studio expressionism.

-Cdbaby.com