EXCLUSIVE – Finnish rock band Us today unveils the video for “Paisley Underground,” a highly addictive burst of neo-psychedelia complimented by trippy visuals. Already available digitally, the track will be released as a 7” vinyl single on August 20 via Grandmother Corn Records. The vinyl will be backed with “Help Me,” a cover of a pre-Family Stone track by Sylvester Stewart. The 7” vinyl is available for pre-order at Bandcamp.
Previously operating under the name Grandmother Corn, the Helsinki-based quintet has already released three albums and made a trio of visits to the UK and Europe. A fourth tour had been planned for 2020 but was cancelled due to Covid-19. With an end to the pandemic finally in sight, the band has rebranded itself as “Us” and they look forward to resuming the loud, roof-raising concerts that have marked them as a band to watch.
For their first release as Us, the band found inspiration in the Californian musical subculture of the early 1980s known as the Paisley Underground. Itself a direct revival of the acid-drenched ‘60s, the movement was spearheaded by such college radio bands as The Bangles, The Dream Syndicate, Green on Red, The Long Ryders, The Rain Parade, The Three O’Clock, and True West. With its heavy droning guitars, crisp drumming, and punkish lead vocal, Us’ “Paisley Underground” is a worthy new addition to the canon.
“’Paisley Underground’ was written last February after a concert in Manchester,” said vocalist/guitarist Teo Hirvonen. “We were sitting in a hostel lobby reading about the bushfires in Australia and the outbreak of the pandemic in China. The Bangles’ “Walk Like an Egyptian” came on the radio, and while I certainly don’t consider that song to be an anthem for the Paisley Underground, it did remind me how much I loved that music. We spent the morning working out the arrangement, and the lyrics address not being able to go anywhere or to see anybody.”
Hirvonen created the new video himself, and the geometric shapes superimposed on the images were directly influenced by the sleeve artwork of The Dream Syndicate’s classic 1982 debut album, The Days of Wine and Roses. The video was filmed in Helsinki in winter during lockdown.
Hirvonen, the main songwriter in the group, is joined by his brothers Pan Hirvonen (harmonica) and Max Somerjoki (guitar, vocals), alongside Henri Lintula (drums) and Rasmus Ruonakoski (bass). Pan is the eldest of the group at 26, while Max is the youngest at 19.
Us are currently at work writing a fourth album, but for now they find escape in the lyrics for their new video: “I’m dreaming about the Paisley Underground / A place where nothing could bring us down.”
The B-side of the August vinyl release of “Paisley Underground” is “Help Me,” a cover of a 1961 track by the Californian group The Viscaynes which featured a young Sylvester Stewart (later to be known as Sly Stone). Originally recorded as “Help Me with My Broken Heart,” the song was written by George Motola.
