Finnish Punk

Punk started off in Finland with the release of I Really Hate Ya by Briard in 1977. This is considered the first punk record made in this country. One of the group members was Andy McCoy, later famous for his rock band Hanoi Rocks.

Although that first single was sung in English, most domestic punk is, naturally, performed in Finnish. Thus, not many punk bands from Finland have gained significant exposure abroad.

Many of the earlier artists later gravitated towards a more mainstream rock-pop style. Some names famous nationally include Eppu Normaali, Maukka Perusjätkä and Pelle Miljoona.

You can’t really write about history of punk in Finland without mentioning the Sex Pistols incident of 1978. The Band was denied access to the country by the Ministry of Interior, fearful of the corrupting effects this new music style would have on the Finnish youth.

This of course just further established punk as a form of resistance and made it even more popular.

There was a second wave of punk bands in the 80’s, mostly playing HC or hardcore. However, punk never really regained mass popularity, and was largely replaced by metal and later, rap.

One of the few punk bands to break into popular consciousness in recent years was PKN or Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät. The band even represented Finland in the Eurovision song contest of 2015.