"storm is broken..."
The title track from Finnish post punk / dream pop / shoegaze outfit Treemer's latest EP "Storm" moves in such stunning ways. It soars actually which, I know is such an overused descriptor, but it absolutely does. The stepped staggered drum beat is the engine and the layers of guitars displaying deep sustains and melodic stairs moving up, then down are the wings. The counterpoised sonic melodies create a sonic dissonance too which is a wonderful offset to Mia Keurulainen's vocal aesthetic tinged with wide eyed longing and melancholia. There is so much beautiful turmoil going on here that sometimes it overtakes her words, her narration but it is worth digging through the ethereal noise to embrace them.
The track sets you comfortably in your seat until you are pummeled the next track Weapons, a post punk jammer. Slow is a mysterious slow burn with elegant scares and Starlit moves further down a gothic baroque rabbit hole.
So cool. So engaging. All of it.
Treemer is Sam Shingler (quitar & vocals), Joakim Schonert (bass), Marko Haikonen (guitar), Mia Keurulainen (vocals & quitar) and Tommi Lehtonen (drums).
-Robb Donker Curtius
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https://www.facebook.com/treemerband
Treemer is a get-together of old friends and 90’s Finnish indie pop personalities.
It begun in the early nineties, in a small town not far from Helsinki. Four blokes discovered a mutual, alternative sound digging such bands as Ride, Sonic Youth, The Cure and R.E.M.
All four were more or less skilled with an instrument, so they started a band of their own, calling it Chickenpotpie (named after a comic strip found in Trasher Magazine). The band threw a few gigs, gaining a small but devoted group of fans. When bass player Joakim started studying in another city, the band decided to call it a day.
However, that didn’t stop them from making music. Soon the three remaining Chickenpotpie members (Marko, Sam and Tommi) started writing songs together, and that’s when a girl called Mia joined them, singing backing vocals and playing keyboards. The Pansies were born.
Everything happened quickly. Before they knew it, The Pansies were “discovered” by a record company A&R, they were playing gigs, and recording their debut album Purple Red Indigo Blue, released in 1994. In 1995 the band toured in Scandinavia and Japan.
The Pansies released four albums and toured in Finland, Europe and Japan. In the year 2000 it was time to put an end to The Pansies’ story.
All members continued to make music though. Sam, Tommi and Joakim started a band called Montevideo, releasing one album in 2006. Mia released a solo album (under artist name Mia Darling) in 2007.
The years rolled on. Along came 2019, and Marko came “out of the closet” with some 20 songs he had been working on on his own. And who would he call up to team up with? Well…
So Treemer is about friendship, shared experiences and dreams as well as noisy guitar fuzz, hypnotic rhythms and obscured vocals, paying homage to groups and artists the Treemer members, aka Treemers, have been listening to all their lives.
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