Kuparilinna is a new Finnish band not afraid to wear their influences on their sleeves.

As their self-titled debut album shows, they certainly know their way around twangy melodic 60s pop, but where it gets interesting is their penchant for 70s Soviet schlager. Together, backed with a fully formed sound and catchy songs they make for an intoxicating mix that sounds surprisingly fresh.

In the single “Aurinko” (“Sun”) the band sings an uplifting anthem for sunny days and friendship, but the video depicts two of them fooling around at the seashore on a typical spring day in Helsinki, tightly wrapped in winter jackets, seemingly struggling to stay cheery.

Maybe the irony implies they’re not too nostalgic for the USSR, where the communist party forced the sun-drenched worker utopia of “Soviet realism” throughout the arts – or just nods to the old joke that the summer in Finland is indeed short, but on the other hand also rainy.

You can stream “Kuparilinna” LP on Bandcamp.

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Photo credit: Touko Hujanen

Kuparilinna on Soundcloud, Facebook,