Tuomas Henrikin Jeesuksen Kristuksen Bändi
The task to listen through the entire assortment of demo tapes sent to Ilosaarirock Festival isn't always easy. When the mailbox spits out demos and independent releases day in and day out, the danger of getting fed up with the whole thing is very real. But sometimes there is something in the wobbling piles of records that forces you to push the repeat button of the CD player again and again. What the hell is this?
Facing the marvellously named Tuomas Henrikin Jeesuksen Kristuksen Bändi (that translates along the lines of The Band of Tuomas Henrik Jesus Christ, or something) and their personal vision of popular music and the life as a whole is such a fundamentally lunatic experience that all you can do is to gape. One minute they serve fragile pop songs like Regina Linnanheimo, dedicated to a Finnish actress from the period of black-and-white celluloid, and the next an angry and trashy punk tune is in the order. But whatever they do, and however weirdly they are dressed, the beef is always in their songs that are full of hooks, catchy and dangerously effective.
One can see two likely paths that this band is going to follow in the future, both of which are equally desirable. Either Tuomas Henrik and his companions will move on to the stadium category, or they will stay in the marginal, enjoying a huge cult following. Either way, the two (!) debut albums – Vade Retro Satanus I and Vade Retro Satanus II – released by Tuomas Henrikin Jeesuksen Kristuksen Bändi this spring both give the finger to the conventions. As this is not the first time that the bands from Oulu, the grey pearl of Northern Finland, have come, seen and marmalized, you have to wonder what the stuff is that they put in the drinking water up there.
