Bay Area hardcore punk band Ransu's Revenge release debut demo entirely in Finnish
Bay Area hardcore punk band Ransu's Revenge turned their love for the Finnish punk scene into an exfiltrating four-song demo.
The band, which features vocalist Pranjal Tiwari (S.C.R.A.M., Cardinal Wyrm), drummer Bil Bowman (ex-Acid King, Hornss), and guitarist Arthur Urquiola were formed at the end of lockdown. Unlike every other punk band in the area, Ransu's Revenge’s lyrics are in Finnish.
Tiwari said this about choosing to convey their words in another language:
"I studied Finnish for a year and half online during lockdown using Duolingo and other apps. I have a lot of friends from Finland and I love a lot of bands from over there, so one day I thought it would be funny to become more familiar with their language. Well, I have a bit of an obsessive personality and I was stuck at home for long stretches, so I became completely consumed with learning Finnish and taking in as much of this language as I could. What can I say, people did a lot of crazy [stuff] during lockdown. After a while of doing that, I was like, you know what, I should do a band out of this, and when lockdown ended, I hit up Bil and Arthur who both love Finnish punk as well.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to win the Nobel prize for Finnish literature anytime soon. The lyrics are simple and utterly ridiculous, about politicians being stupid sock puppets, Chinese food, birds, and dogs. But it works. And Finnish is just such a satisfying language to shout in. Then we named the band RANSU'S REVENGE after this dog puppet character who is on a famous Finnish children's TV show. Because why not, right? Our buddy Clint from Boca de Fuma art did a killer logo/artwork for us, and well, here we are. We love how this demo turned out, and hope to have more stuff recorded soon. Now that we've awoken the sleeping dog, we must keep it fed. Ransu will have his revenge!"
Released on February 23, the Ransu’s Revenge demo saw over 55,000 plays from Finland within a week of its release. Tiwari said this about the surprising response from Finland:
“We’re really amazed and humbled by the response to the demo in Finland. It means a lot to us that they appreciate our little love letter to Finnish hardcore and the Finnish language, what a great example of subcultural exchange.”
The four-song Ransu's Revenge demo is available on Bandcamp right now. More music from the band will be unveiled in the future.
Ransu's Revenge (Demo) tracklisting:
1. Sukkanukke
2. Kiinalainen Ruoka
3. Lääkkeet Linnuille
4. Koira