Ypö-Viis: youth relived
It’s hard to believe that punk used to be the expressive medium of angry young men. The sight of the four duly aged men of Ypö-Viis on the third stage on Sunday afternoon tell something completely diffenrent. They are obviously in a good mood, but it isn’t likely that anyone’s arrived to the tent to witness angst caused by social evils.
The experience is above all disarming. It’s still hard to tell if the effect is due to the honestly simple song material the barely grown-up lads wrote thirty years ago, or to the facial expressions that reveal that the musicians have sincerely returned to those times for the moment. Not many listeners are as old as the songs. Nevertheless they know the lyrics by heart and the pit is as convincing as ever.
Not everything about Ypö-Viis is nostalgic. The aptly named songs adhere to this day, and the band’s pure 77 punk sounds solid and competent. There may not be many nuances, but the keyword to the concept is simplicity. Biting triad combined with lyrics saying whatever is most important at the time.
When everything is as compact, there are many things one can say in an hour. Even if the formula of the songs is repetitious, the band’s enthusiasm remains evident and catching until the end. Maybe this is what youth is about. Bright-eyed moving from one feeling to another, and taking them out in small simple songs. And luckily it can be relived every now and again.
Text: Hannu Linkola
Translation: Hanna Laaksonen