(Originally written on my Agony Shorthand blog in 2005…)

THE RUTTO : “EI PALUUTA” 7"EP…..

A wild, borderline-inept, off the rails Finnish pseudo-hardcore record from 1983. I’ll take it! There’s a reason that record collecting scum have been scouring the auction sites for THE RUTTO’s debut of late. Now that I’ve heard the whole 6-minute package instead of just its kickoff track “Ma Vihaan”, I’m really floored by it. It’s just a massive wallop of sound, featuring a high-pitched Greg Ginn-like feedback whine that preludes every track, and a pummeling, fuzz-heavy guitar that brings almost as much steady intensity as Ginn did to tracks like “Police Story”or “I’ve Heard It Before”.

The female vocalist has this vessel-bursting vocal scrape that sounds like she’s attempting to spit up all 5-6 vowels at once – then again, perhaps that’s just the Finnish language for ya. She’s a real hoarse shouter nonetheless, and her amateur take on “singing” is in line with the rest of the DIY pleasures to be found on Rutto’s debut. Each of the 5 tracks buzz at a steady mid/high-tempo pace and don’t vary for 7/8ths of the track, yet all sort of fall to pieces at the end and stop, rev up again, and finally collapse into chaos. Fans of SOLGER, TEDDY & THE FRAT GIRLS and the motherf***in Flag themselves will be impressed. Get it on your dorky want list ASAP.

Listen to the whole thing here.