Hakkaapäälle is a band with a difficult Finnish name that translates to “Bang on it” and is often misspelled. (That is the reason why Hakkaapäälle can be found online at www.trashfusion.com, rather than www.hakkaapaeaelle.com.)
The URL gives a clue as to what kind of music Hakkaapäälle make and what philosophy it is based on. Trashfusion – the style of which they are the gods – is easier to experience than to describe, though. It consists, among other things, in beating the drums and the bass hard. Very hard. Even thrashing or otherwise abusing them occasionally. Still, of course, this is always about playing, too. And due to the playful elements of this process, virtually anything can result from it. The only constant is that it’s always music with balls. (Don’t be fooled by the lofty, downright angelic heights of the falsetto harmonies that these two guys produce before they dive back into earthier realms!) It’s never predictable. Anything goes. Let’s make believe the bass is a guitar or the rap song is a musical – what the hell … If it didn’t sound so snooty, you’d be tempted to call Hakkaapäälle the paradigmatic post-modern rock band.