Käräjät

Reviews

Käräjät / Puukkojunkkari split EP

Ultra-abrasive split that’s over as quickly as it starts. On the A-side is Finland’s KÄRÄJÄT, who play punishing noise punk and whose longest song is 57 seconds (the shortest is 13 seconds). They have six songs on their side, a pretty impressive feat for a 7”. On the B-side, PUUKKOJUNKKARI from Brazil plays equally as caustic if not slightly more coherent hardcore on their five songs. Not gonna lie, this shit is wild, and while not entirely in my wheelhouse, I like it.

Käräjät Pimeä Nykyaika EP

First off, ten-fukkn-song EP. Not sure what year these Finns think we’re in, but I’m so damn glad they are here with me today. Atonal, ramshackle, harsh, uncompromisingly raw hardcore punk with exactly one cut that kisses the one-minute mark, this record is the living embodiment of sonic brutality. And then “Hallitus Uudistaa” opens, and I feel like I’m listening to a STOOGES outtake before I get blasted by ten seconds of primal shit-fi grind, and I remember that I am most definitely not listing to STOOGES—more like MEDELLIN, or maybe a fidelity-free FEAR OF GOD. Pimeä Nykyaika is an extremely harsh listen…more of this, please.

Käräjät Maailman Onnellisin Kansa EP

KÄRÄJÄT is a ugly Finnish noisecore band that follows the classic audio terrorist footsteps of SORE THROAT. Short blasts of what sounds like a desk being used as a drum kit in, noise-driven punk, accompanied by chaotic riffing and throat-damaging screamed vocals. The “songs” are really, really short, in the good fashion of noisecore, and go for full intensity. As per tradition, these types of bands focus more on making people feel disgusted than on musi, per se, so Maailman Onnellisin Kansa (“Happiest Nation in the World”) is more of a critique of Finland set to a soundtrack of hellish noise.