I was walking around Kouvola when I ended to some alley. To my surprise in the alley there was a record store so I went to see what they had in sale and found this. As this is a punk compilation there is no way I am going to do track by track review of 21 tracks.
Most of the production is good for this kind of comp. There is no single track where the instrumentation can't be made out. Most of the music here is hardcore punk which should tell what to expect from this compilation if you have ever heard any finnish hardcore punk. Still there is enough variation here so the compilation doesn't become redundant or boring. Few stand-out tracks to me are some melodic punk that brings bands like Kollaa Kestää to mind. Most of these also include female vocalists doing clean vocals, something I never heard in finnish punk before this. The biggest stand-out track is the first track by Farewell to Arms Band, a cover of Jäähyväiset Aseille by Kollaa Kestää. What makes this song unique is that includes some 3 - 6 different vocalists on one track. It contains everything from clean vocals to gang shouting to hardcore punk screaming. While this kind of diversity could be bad and ruin the song, surprisingly it works as plus for the song.
The cover artwork is simplistic, having just words Jäähyväiset aseille and Farewell to Arms on frontcover with AKL* logo on middle. On backcover there is a group picture of all members of all bands and few AKL members and tracklist. It is awfully clear what political motivation was behind this release and as such, having a picture of some 15 - 20 year old punks on backcover might not be best possible promotion for the message or organization like AKL. On the vinyl itself, I really enjoy how the middle sticker is done. White back with clear text containin name of the release, sides marked clearly and the label and AKL named. Why cannot all vinyls contain such middlelabels? When the political aim of the record is clear, I expected that all the tracks would be centered around the main themes but some tracks goes onto different subjects and make the release seem a bit unfocused.
If you either dont agree with the politics of the release or hate finnish punk you shouldnt bother with this. Otherwise, I highly recommend getting this record, even if its just for the Kollaa Kestää cover.
"On hyödykkeitä helppo käyttää, ja materiaa mä vastustan" - Kuluta ja Käytä by Aurinkokerho
*AKL is Aseistäkieltäytyjäliitto, finnish pacifist organisation.