22-Pistepirkko – Big Lupu (1992)

22-Pistepirkko had a really long career. They started their career in 1980 and only stopped playing very recently. In their career they have made some amazing albums, but also some albums that don't really impress me that much. This one belongs to the latter group. What makes this interesting, is that this album includes probably the most well known song of theirs and even I think it's one of the best ones they ever wrote. The problem is that this is pretty much the only amazing song on the album. There are some other rather interesting ones, but they don't really stand out from band's other work. 22-Pistepirkko has been quite ambitious in their career and they have made fame for themselves even outside of Finland, especially in Germany and Denmark. Band's name, meaning a ladybug with 22 dots, may not, however, be the best title for a band that aspires to break outside of Finland.



I remember being introduced to the band by hearing the song Birdy on my sister's Bonus cassette, a cassette you got for free if you bought two or more CDs, LPs or cassettes. I really liked this song, but it took me a while to get acquainted with their other songs. Back in 1992 it wasn't that easy to get your hands on new music.

A few years later in 1995, I headed to my first ever proper music festival, Ruisrock in Turku, Finland with my friend and his father. I remember seeing 22-Pistepirkko play there during the day and I remember enjoying immensely when they played Birdy. Many years later, when I was old enough to go to clubs to see bands live, I saw 22-Pistepirkko live many times. I've always had a soft spot for Birdy and whenever it plays, I get highly emotional even if there are many other songs that I really like from them as well.

The majority of the album has quite lo-fi sounds and the songs are not that exciting. Even after listening to this album over many times, they feel distant and not easy to grasp. There are, however, some exceptions. Household Affairs is a kind of bluegrass song on drugs. I like the absolutely crazy organ sounds in this song. Tired of Being Drunk is a masterful slacker rock song that sounds a lot like Pavement or any other Stephen Malkmus songs. I'm Right has great psychedelic and distorted guitar sounds. The song is like a mix of Sonic Youth and Pavement. Texacoson is a more typical song for 22-Pistepirkko's early career. Groovy rock n' roll with amazing organ sounds. These are the kinds of songs that really make people crazy on their gigs. Papa is a great swampy blues song with amazingly steely guitar sound. Swamp Blues is a more appropriate name for the previous song, but this song shows the garage rock side of the band. The sounds are really big in this one. She's So Shy is a great garage rock song with amazing riffs and hypnotising rhythms.

Just because I've given so much praise for Birdy in this post, I have to link the music video here as well. For a Finnish music video, this is a great one. This classy black and white music video shows a giant bird watching a tv programme about Native Americans in a living room while the band plays the song sitting on a sofa.

22-Pistepirkko has had a major impact on me throughout my life and I've listened to their music more or less since I was 10 years old. They're one of those bands that I would really want to make more well known with non-Finnish audiences, although, now it might be a bit late, since they don't play anymore.

Listen to the album on Spotify.