The perfect trio

A phenomenon is growing and prospering in the frozen soil of Finland. A band of rock guerrillas are attacking public consciousness with gut-churning melancholy and face-melting energy as their main weapons. Lapko has a long history and a lot of experience behind them. The band has been cultivating their passionate, unpolished sound for over ten years and the trio's friendship predates that, a fact often cited in the media. So what?

The three members of Lapko: Malja (guitar and vocals), Nordberg (bass) and Heikkonen (drums), have been friends since childhood in the small town of Harjavalta. Musically they've evolved from punk to more streamlined and explosive rock, the core of which lies in a sturdy backbone of sharp drumming and tight basslines with frenetic guitars and passionate vocals branching out. Testimonies of their onstage energy and the EP Your Special K.O. (Lapko 2003) immediately attracted attention from Finnish music media, and 2004's debut album The Arms (Jukeboss) introduced the hungry young band to a wider audience. For their second album Scandal (2006) Lapko switched to Fullsteam Records. With each album release Lapko have gained wider attention and they've proved their notoriety as a devastating live band both home and abroad, in Europe and the US. In Finland both Scandal and Young Desire have topped the album chart, Scandal reaching the second place and Young Desire the third, the latter selling notably more on its first week than the former.

Third album Young Desire (Fullsteam), released May 2007, again captures the fervour witnessed on Lapko's live shows. Taking in themes of vulnerability and anxiety beneath hardened exteriors, aching feelings, pressure and confusion, the album is a mental trip back to the schoolyard, where tough guy antics and leather armor can't hide the convulsions underneath. There's new depth and dynamic in the band's expression, fitting for a gang of seasoned rock musicians. These two art-school dropouts and metal worker have come a long way from Harjavalta (though they still gather there to rehearse and play) and have evolved as a band and as friends. To sum up ten years of development, says Nordberg: "Actually we've regressed, up to the point where you concede you're too dumb to do anything else than play in a rock band".