On the basis of their sound, I'd guess that Finland's Sister Flo was named after the sister Flo in Johnny Otis' "Hand Jive" rather than the sister Flo in Bowie's "Queen Bitch". Perhaps that'll help you to imagine their sound. Poppy, cheerful, upbeat and a bit quirky, Laurie Moore avoids dullness by drawing on the band's healthy list of pop musical sources.
The band members -- Samae Koskinen on lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, songwriting; Petri Nakari on guitar, vocals; Mikko Salonen on bass, lending a hand with vocals too; Antti Kaistinen, drums -- have been fiddling about in the Finnish music scene for some ten years. Sister Flo is their first "real" band, with the exception of Napanöyhtä, guitarist/vocalist Petri Nakari's obscure (but great) garage-punk band. The members' years of practice stands them in good stead on Laurie Moore. Nakari is a Jason Falkner fan, and patterns his vocals accordingly, while also tipping his hat to Barafundle-era Gorky's Zygotic Mynci. The quietly strummed guitars take precedence, sharing the stage with the vocals, while spacy, burbly keyboards and muted percussion fill in the background spaces. The band can be mournful, as "Lesser Demons" proves, but the soaring chorus at the song's end keeps it from toppling into the depths of hollowness. This is music for cold days and calm skies: warm, slight and melodic, never crashing. The lyrics are inconsequential -- which is fortunate, as Koskinen (or perhaps Nakari) mumbles the words in one long, drooling string, making interpretation impossible. The harmonization frequently soars, making the backup as much a pleasure as the lead vocals. There aren't many obvious hooks, or any lingering choruses (with the exception of the surprisingly out-of-context "Pistolero"), but you won't mind if you can't sing along; it's pleasure enough to simply listen and enjoy.
Laurie Moore is currently only available online from Finnish indie label HanSoo Voice, although SmokeyLung plans to release some of the band's songs on their Foreign Correspondence compilation this fall. If going to extra effort to hunt down hard-to-find discs makes you think twice before buying, put away your hesitation; this one's worth the trouble.
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