Laika & The Cosmonauts

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Laika & The Cosmonauts
General information
Genre (s) Surf rock
founding 1987
resolution 2008
Website laikaandthecosmonauts.com
Founding members
Mikko Lankinen
Janne Haavisto
Matti Pitsinki
Tom Nyman

Laika & The Cosmonauts was a surf rock band from Finland that formed in 1987 with the line-up of Mikko Lankinen ( electric guitar ), Janne Haavisto ( drums ), Matti Pitsinki ( electronic organ and guitar) and Tom Nyman ( electric bass ) had formed. The group's first album, C'mon Do The Laika, was released in 1988, followed by five more albums. The band played in the original line-up until they broke up in 2008.

biography

In 1987 Laika & The Cosmonauts emerged from the Finnish band Pluto & The Astronauts. The band name refers to the bitch Laika , who was the first living being to be shot into earth orbit by the Soviet Union in 1957 as part of the Sputnik 2 mission . Attention to Laika & The Cosmonauts began to grow in Finland and the rest of Europe after the band had already made a name for themselves in the US instrumental, surf rock and garage rock scenes. In the USA the Cosmonauts released three studio albums, Instruments of Terror (1992), The Amazing Colossal band (1995), both the record label Upstart Records, and Absurdistan (1997) on Yep Roc Records as well as a compilation , Zero Gravity (1996), in UpStart Records, with pieces of music from the two early works, C'mon do the Laika (1988) and Surfs You Right! (1990), both released on Amigo Finland Records.

While Laika & The Cosmonauts played typical surf rock on the first two albums, the band expanded their range of styles on the following albums to include elements from the musical styles of jazz (including a cover version of the jazz standard A Night in Tunisia by Dizzy Gillespie ), Ska and Heavy Metal . In addition, the musicians were involved in the soundtracks of several movies and also worked as music producers for other bands.

Laika & The Cosmonauts' albums were received very positively by the US press and played extensively on the radio. Musicians like Dick Dale , Mike Palm ( Agent Orange ), John Jorgenson (The Hellecasters), Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench ( Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers ) belong to the circle of self-confessed Laika fans.

There have been six major concert tours in the USA, including as the opening act for the band Ministry on the tour of the Ministry album Filth Pig . The Ministry singer Al Jourgensen absolutely wanted to have Laika at the Ministry-Tornee, which led through several sports stadiums : “They are the best fucking band in the world!” Laika & The Cosmonauts toured regularly in Europe since the mid-1990s. In 2000, the live album Laika Sex Machine was released on Texicalli Records. The title of the album is a play on words that humorously connects the band's name with the popular 1970 funk piece Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine by James Brown . The album Local Warming , which was released by Yep Roc Records in early 2004, was followed by tours in North America and Europe. In November 2008 the band split up after 21 years.

Discography

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Absurdistan
  FI 29 18/1997 (1 week)
Local warming
  FI 25th 4/2004 (4 weeks)

Albums

  • 1988 - C'mon do the Laika
  • 1990 - Surfs You Right
  • 1992 - Instruments of Terror
  • 1995 - Amazing Colossal Band
  • 1996 - Zero Gravity
  • 1997 - Absurdistan
  • 2000 - Laika Sex Machine
  • 2004 - Local Warming

Singles

  • 1988 - Fadeaway
  • 1990 - Laika & The Cosmonauts Play Varttina: Kiiriminna

literature

  • Martin Schmidt: Surf Beat - the who's who of surf and instromusic . Ventil Verlag, Mainz 2007. ISBN 978-3-931-555-85-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Martin Schmidt: Surf Beat - The Who's Who of Surf and Instromusic, p. 81 f.
  2. ↑ Al Jourgensen, quoted from Martin Schmidt: Surf Beat - The Who's Who of Surf and Instromusik, p. 82
  3. ↑ Laika & The Cosmonauts in the Finnish hit parade