Krautrock Crosses the Finnish Line

Somewhere between the classically informed drone of UK indie rockers Electrelane and the simply classic drone of Tangerine Dream you will find the Helsinki-based quartet Siinai.

The group is less than a year old, but with their debut album Olympic Games out now in the US and getting solidly appreciative reviews, they’re already off to a running start. Their trance inducing single “Marathon,” with a groove in between shoegaze and krautrock, drummed up early buzz. And the band was nominated for a 2011 Nordic Music Prize. Now, they’re already on to another project with Wolf Parade’s Spencer Krug as Moonface called Heartbreaking Bravery.

It’s rare that a largely instrumental band without distinct vocals or traditional song structures gets so much early attention, but the music is really lovely. One might even say Tangerine Dreamy! (Sorry.) These guys might wait until five minutes into an eight minute song to introduce the melody or even the beat, but when they do it’s totally worth the wait. Their Olympic-themed debut is full of inspiring synth build-ups and long, gently churning guitar passages perfect for running a marathon to, or soundtracking a video with a lot of running:

SIINAI- Finish Line from Splendour on Vimeo.

There’s a pure and driving energy to their epic tracks that lives up to the  Olympian song titles (“Victory,” “Finish Line”) but the real inspiration for the psychedelically featureless music may come from the flat and sparsely populated territory of Östrobothnia where all the members hail from. Either way, Siinai is an ambitious new band with a flair for the sublime. We think they’re in it for the long haul too.