So i think it's only right that we get to write about our official new 'favourite' band given it's our 5th birthday, and 'Treemer' from Finland have really captured our hearts with a gorgeous release that blends 80/90s shoegaze and even gothic influences with a more modern indie and even post rock soundscape. Their debut EP 'Meeting' was released just over a week ago to a small fanfare, and we're delighted to do our bit to bring them to the attention of our lovely international readership.
So who are 'Treemer'? Well they're from a town outside Helsinki, and there's a pretty cool long history behind the band, who were originally formed back in the 1990's in the form of 'Chickenpotpie', before the bass player moved city and was replaced with then backing vocalist and keyboard player Mia and a successful few years followed as 'The Pansies' (you can still find them on streaming services), touring internationally and releasing 4 albums until 2000. Three members then continued as 'Montevideo' before everybody went into hiatus for a while, before one band member Marko sprang out of nowhere with 2 albums worth of material and 'Treemer' were born. Understandably the band say that 'Treemer' is as much about shared friendships as anything else, and with a list of influences on Facebook that matches ours almost identically, from 'The Cure' to 'Teenage Fanclub' to Sonic Youth' (they're just missing 'Cardiacs' obviously) this was always going to be a Nordic Music Review type of band.
Anyway 'Meeting' opens up with 'The Great Void', with a pleasant enough indie guitar sounding opening, but it's the way that this track blossoms that really sets it out from the crowd - soft vocals are taken over by a thunderous wall of sound just over 3 1/2 minutes which is simply magnificent in scale, and slightly unexpected too. 'Meeting' reminds me vocally of Miki Berenyi from 'Lush', it's an attractive melodic song, this time opening up with a lovely trumpet solo, and in a duet with the vocals it's pretty effective and unusual too. 'Much Better' opens up with psychedelic guitars (and a hint of Bernard Butler perhaps), and the vocals are harsher, the song having a different texture to the previous offerings, and it's the wailing instrumental section that concludes the track that particularly appeals. 'Think it Over' concludes the EP, and it's another beautiful melodic track which this time nicely fuses together a whole selection of my favourite bands from 'The Sundays' to 'Echobelly'.
This is 'Meeting':
I try to avoid referencing other bands too much when writing about new releases, but there is an obvious indie nostalgia in 'Treemer's sound. However they take those influences and launch the band further into an alternative direction, with an almost 'post rock' type ambition and some lovely touches such as the trumpet solo in 'Meeting'. Genuinely really enjoyed getting to know this band, and hopefully with a stack of material already written, it won't be too long before we get to hear some new material.