Yleiset Syyt

***Saitte Mitä Halusitte is the new 9-song mini-LP from Helsinki, Finland’s Yleiset Syyt. If you loved 2022’s collection LP Toisten Todellisuus (also co-released by La Vida Es Un Mus and Sorry State), you’ll be pleased to hear Yleiset Syyt still has a knack for finding that circa-1981 hardcore sweet spot, evoking a moment when hardcore’s aggression bubbled over, yet the music still contained much of the pop architecture that anchored late 70s punk. In layman’s terms, I’m talking about hooks, which Yleiset Syyt has for days. Check out the downright iconic riffs in “Geenipoolin Pohjimmainen” or the title track, “Saitte Mitä Halusitte.” These riffs don’t just stick in your head; like “I Don’t Wanna Hear It” or “Pay to Cum” or “Iron Man,” they make you want to pick up a guitar and join in the fun. While Yleiset Syyt’s potent songcraft still recalls their Finnish forbears Lama as well as first-gen US hardcore legends like Minor Threat or the Fix, Saitte Mitä Halusitte doesn’t stop at homage, pushing the sound in several directions while maintaining Yleiset Syyt’s instantly identifiable voice. “Aavekaupunki” and “Kaaos Jää” draw on gripping, tension-filled UK82 punk, while “Sotakoneet” has that touch of melancholy that made both Lama and early Bad Religion so special. “Ansioton Köyhä” taps into Appendix’s aggressive glam-punk, while “Tuhat Kättä” closes the record by fusing moody UK anarcho-punk with “Damaged I”-style mental breakdown vocals. If you’re looking for raging, catchy hardcore, then Saitte Mitä Halusitte will scratch that itch. But there’s something else happening here too, a Plastic Surgery Disasters / Machine Gun Etiquette-esque redrawing of hardcore’s boundary lines, incorporating new moods and textures without compromising the genre’s fundamental wallop.