Craneium, a twin-guitar Finnish quartet, has released its second single, “Things Have Changed,” from its fourth release, Point of No Return (on The Sign Records). Craneium hails from Turku, which is Finland’s oldest “city.” Its population hovers around 200,000 inhabitants. Turku has several tourist attractions; namely, the aurora borealis, water, and the Moominland theme park. Native author Tove Jansson (1914-2001) wrote dozens of fairy tales about Moomins. Moomin books, according to my mother-in-law (a huge fan!), depict daily human life in the form of Moomins. The books are fairly simple reading and intended for children although, like The Simpsons, contain clever twists that only adults realize and comprehend.
“Things Have Changed” does not rely on technical wizardry; instead, the approach has melody and approachability. Yes-this is rock and roll-with the subgenre being sludge by these fuzzed-out Finns. Clear vocals and a slow, catchy melody made me pigeonhole the song somewhere between Sweden’s Ghost and Salem’s Pot (I previously wrote about the latter on EPB).
Since I wanted more, I visited craneiumband.bandcamp.com where I found the first single, The Sun. I also listened to three other songs, i.e., Devil Driver, The Gnome, and Explore the Void. None of the five songs followed the same template or sounded formulaic. I liked Explore the Void and Things Have Changed more than the other three. Regardless, Cranium’s simple and clever approach definitely passes the smell test and I would spend money to see Craneium in concert!
In other words, add Craneium to an all-Scandinavian music festival on the west side of the Atlantic!!
Connect with Craneium:
https://www.facebook.com/craneiumband
https://www.instagram.com/craneiumband/
https://craneiumband.bandcamp.com/
