Lapko

seen live

They are coming right at you. Gut-churning melancholy and face-melting energy their main weapons. Embrace the devastation known as LAPKO. The band has cultivated its frenetic sound for over a dozen years. Three guys, friends since they were kids in the small town of Harjavalta, have welded into a tight-knit unit. Every piece holds the others together. Lapko's perfect trio of Malja (guitar and vocals), Anssi Nordberg (bass) and Janne Heikkonen (drums) first pricked ears with energetic live shows. Then the release of the EP Your Special K.O. (2003) and debut album The Arms (2004) introduced a hungry band. The music's evolution from punk to explosive yet heart-wrenching rock still continues. The basics remain: sharp drumming and tight basslines are the steady spine with dizzying guitars and desperate vocals branching out like the nervous system. Second album Scandal (2006) took LAPKO to number two in the Finnish album charts. The reputation as a fierce live band continued to grow in Finland, around Europe and in the US. Third album Young Desire (2007) added more depth and vulnerability to Lapko's aggressive melancholy. In 2009 Lapko crossed the Atlantic and set camp in Woodstock, New York Producer D. James Goodwin was trusted with focusing the trio's buzzing inspiration and ambition to create A New Bohemia (2010), and a year after this fruitful cooperation the band returned to Woodstock record their next album, the hard hitting LOVE (2012). In 2013, the band’s founding me...