Fumble

Fumble was founded in 1991. And right now, in 2007, they are releasing their debut album. No, I didn’t mistype anything. There actually is a 16 year gap between the day the band was founded, and the release of their first record ever. This could lead one to suspect a couple of things about this band – one story wilder than the other. But actually, the story behind this band is a lot less prosaic as my imagination was making it to be.

Apparently, Fumble was a melodic punkrock-band like many others in the early nineties. Some friends got together and started making music, played some shows, got a little local fame – nothing new under the sun. And as it goes with bands that are started under such circumstances: at a certain point in time people started moving to other cities for studies, and the band graduately fell apart, which happened to Fumble in 1994. This is where the story for most bands in such a situation would end.

But Fumble experienced a restart in 2002, when two of the founding fathers of the band started playing some tunes together again. They enjoyed it so much that they found themselves a new bass player and a new drummer and revived the band.

This all leads to this rather late debut record. The odd thing is: even though it is 2007, ‘Rise’ sounds just like the time the band was first starting out. In that days, melodic punkrock was territory of bands like Descendents, Jawbreaker and Samiam. Fumble really recalls that era on this record. The especially remind me of Samiam – both in musicianship as general tone of voice. Sunny, but with a little grim edge to it.

But moreover: ‘Rise’ sounds like a typical afternoon for a highschool kid in 1991 in some suburb of Helsinki. This record recalls skateboarding, hanging out with friends and not worrying too much about the future. The weird thing is that the guys from Fumble aged a bit since then. Actually, they aged quite a bit – probably about half their lives past since then. Is this like a quarterlife-crisis for them, trying to revamp the spirit of their teenage lives? If so, I hope that, when they are regrouping for their midlife-crisis period (pony tailed, motorcycle driving, dragging along a really young girlfriend – you know the deal), they will still play this kind of music, because they really make the style work for them. - AsIce / 20.7.2007 / Tim de Tweede

Helsinki, Finland’s Fumble writes old school punk songs with melody in mind. Vocally it’s rough around the edges, which plays an opposite of the melodic guitar chords that are strummed with huge ounces of energy. Sweaty rhythms dominate the strong guitar arrangements. Fumble definitely decides to go a completely different route from the more American pop-punk mall-friendly approach—but that’s not to say that “Rise” isn’t rife with catchiness; it is, big time! - Smother.net / 23.7.2007 / J-Sin

Helsinkiläinen Fumble seilaa kevyemmän punkituksen ja Amerikan menon välimaastossa. Bändi on lisännyt punkkikerrointa ja powerpoppi saa jäädä takalinjoille. Fumble raivaa tietään punk-historian hämärissä ja vaikka emoilut ovat häviävä luonnonvara, jenkkimenon emolinjaa löytyy biisista ja toisesta. Pääosissa on kuitenkin rento rokkipunkki, joka etsii vaikutteita aina Ramonesista asti.

Bändi kertoo fanittavansa Jenkkiläistä Samiam-nimistä punkkipop-orkesteria. Fumblen taustalta löytyy pätevää punkkihistorian läpikäyntiä. Allekirjoittanut löytää myös vivahteita vanhemmasta Green Daysta. Soundi on pelkistettyä old school-kamaa, välillä voisi toivoa lisää poweria ja särmää mutta bändi hengittää turbobuustaamatonta ilmaa. Fumblen harrastama rentous ja pirteys tulee suoraan ison veden takaa. Kotimaisten bändien synkistelyt jätetään vähemmälle huomiolle. Kuitenkin herkempää viisua uskalletaan laittaa narulle.

Forgotten Hearts lisää taustalle Ramonesia mutta melodioissa löytyy. Don’t Stop Now on enemmän poweria ja jenkkisoundia. Pile Of Stone uskaltautuu nyyhkylinjalle mutta Set To Kill palauttaa linjan osuvan punkkipopin syntysijoille. Levy viimeiset kappaleet löytyvät powerpopin, jenkkifiilistelyn ja rokkipunkin rajaseuduilta.

Fumble onnistuu luomaan toimivan luomusoundin, jossa ei ole sijaa metallisärmälle. Bändi jättää aggressiot muiden aktien huoleksi. Fumble punk’n’rollaa avoimin mielin ja hyvällä fiilarilla. Bändi ei lokeroi itseään yhden karsinan ihmeeksi. Fumble on enemmän kuin punkkia, raja-aidat kaatuvat tämän bändin käsittelyssä. Fumblen punk’n’roll herättää kuuntelemaan, vaikka uuden ja ihmeellisen löytäminen jää vähiin. Vaikka bändi on räväkkä ilmestys, muutamat viisut kaipaisivat enemmän verta ja elämää. Liiallinen jenkkisoundin etsintä ei ole pohjoisen pojalle hyvä asia. - V2 / 26.7.2007 / J.A. Kaunisto

Yhtyeen oma label Walk Alone Records julkaisi jokin aika sitten Fumblen debyyttialbumin Rise. Esikoispitkäsoitto on tämän, suonissaan helsinkiläisverta kierrättävän, nelikon näyte heidän punkrock-osaamisestaan. Bändi on perustettu vuoden 1994 hajoamisen jälkeen tällä kokoonpanolla vuonna 2003, mutta keikkalavoilla bändiä nähtiin vasta vuonna 2006, josta uusi innostus levytyksiinkin sitten syttyi, ja tässä sitä ollaan debyytin kanssa.

Fumble kutsuu itseään melodiseksi punkrock orkesteriksi, mutta itse ennemmin melkein jättäisin tuon punk-sanan pois tuolta sekoittamasta pakkaa. Vaikka ajoittain se Ramones ja jopa, vaikka se pahalta tuntuukin, Green Day ja Weezer kuuluvat läpi on niiden rooli hyvin pieni perusrockin rinnalla. Levy on kokonaisuudessaan hyvin rauhoittava, mielen leppoisaksi saatteleva, lähes iltasatumainen paketti. Vaikka ajoittain imetäänkin posket lommolla kuuntelijasta kaikki mehut ulos, kuten kappaleissa avausraidassa We Are on Fire, sinkkubiisissä Burning Down sekä kappaleessa Reduction, ei niiden aggressiivisuus silti ole liian rajua ollakseen vain osa ritari-lohikäärme-sadun kohokohtia. Pääpaino tuntuu kuitenkin olevan onnellisen lopun tavoittelussa. Tämän todistavat yhtyeen herkän puolen esiin tuovat biisit esim. Start Once Again, Pile of Stone, Saviours sekä levyn päättävä nimikkoraita Rise.

Fumble on nätti paketti melodista rockia kauniista musiikista pitävälle ihmiselle. Eli ei välttämättä aivan omaa lempikamaani, mutta siltikin on myönnettävä, että yhtyeellä tuntuu olevan oma päänsä täynnä ambitioita ja niiden toteuttaminenkin kuulostaisi olevan hyvin hallussa. En näe oikein yhtään syytä miksi bändi ei voisi breikata suuremminkin, jos ei hieman tasapaksuista lopputulosta oteta huomioon. Onhan mm. The Rasmus ja Hanoi Rocks ollut oman kamansa kanssa jo kauan pinnalla, eikä tämä loppujen lopuksi niin kauhean kaukana noista kahdesta ole, ehkä niiden välissä taiteillaan... - Stalker Music / 14.8.2007 / Markus Rask

Fumble on tuttu bändi jo 90-luvulta. Bändin meriitteihin kuuluu jenkkiläisen Allin lämmittely Lepakossa. Vuonna -93 julkaistu Trying Again mini-CD kulkeutui myös omaan levyhyllyyni. Suurta vaikutusta ei Fumblen melodinen punk tehnyt silloin - eikä nyt toisella tulemisellakaan. Toki reilussa kymmenessä vuodessa on tapahtunut luonnollista iän mukanaan tuomaa kypsymistä, mutta se ei ole tuonut mukanaan mitään uusia ulottuvuuksia, joita bändi selvästi kaipaisi soittoonsa. Fumblella on melodiat ja harmoniat hallussa, sitä ei voi kiistää. Esimerkiksi Forgotten Hearts ja Burning Down sisältävät sinällään kelpo poppipunk-biisin ainekset, mutta toteutus on liian yllätyksetöntä. Jos julmasti sanotaan, niin kun olet kuunnellut avausbiisi We Are On Firen, niin olet kuullut oikeastaan kaiken olennaisen levystä. Okei, pyörretään puheita hieman. Rockpop-pala Breathe Out herättää toivoa paremmasta huomisesta hauskasti helisevine kitaroineen. Fumble voisi olla omimmillaan kun unohtaisi soitostaan tyystin punk-vaikutteet. Reilusti vaan työstämään rockpop-huttua, koska edellytykset ovat olemassa. Sitä tosiasiaa vahvistaa myös Pile Of Stone, joka ilman railakkaampaa kertosäettään olisi suht puhdasverinen pop-balladi.

Pressi kertoo laulaja Ramin ja kitaristi Onnin diggailleen 80-luvun lopussa mm. Snuffia, Descendentsiä, Allia, Samiamia ja Jawbreakeriä. Fumblen musiikkiin ei ainakaan pari ensimmäistä ryhmää ole suuresti vaikuttaneet. Snuffin melodinen raivo ja Descendentsin rytmiset oivallukset; ah siinäpä olisi Fumblelle loistavat pohjat tehdä loistavaa musiikkia. Jolleivät sitten ota yllä olevasta vinkistäni vaarin.

Luulenpa, että Rise unohtuu hyllyyn pölyttymään Trying Againin tavoin. Liian pliisua ja kasvotonta, näin on näreet. - Tuhma / 16.8.2007/ Jouko Lehtinen

Espanjassakin pariin otteeseen kiertänyt Fumble tulee Helsingistä ja tarjoaa debyyttialbumillaan rentoa punkrockia. Vaikutteita vuonna 2003 uudelleenkasattu yhtye on imenyt aina vanhankoulun punkista modernimpaan melodiseen punkkiin ja vanhaan poppiin. Yhdistelmä on todella leppoisan ja mukavan kuuloinen, mutta pitemmässä juoksussa myös hieman tylsähkö.

Rise-nimellä siunattu debyyttialbumi suorastaan puhkuu nostalgiaa ja rentoa meininkiä. Muun muassa Descendentsin ja Samiamin suuntaan kumarrellaan, mutta mitään varsinaista vertauskuvaa en Fumblelle, ainakaan nyt, löydä. Kitaravetoinen rokki soi paikoitellen vanhan kunnon melodisen punkin merkeissä (mm. Burning Down, Forgotten Hearts) ja välillä taas enemmän powerpopmaisesti (Don’t Stop Now, Pile of Stone). Parhaiten mielestäni kuitenkin toimivat mukavasti kitaroilla leikittelevä Start Once Again sekä levyn päättävä balladi Rise, joka kertosäkeellään kiskaisee vauhdilla mukaan vanhaan ysärimeininkiin.

Jari Pelto-Pirin kanssa nauhoitettu Rise toimii riisutuilla soundeilla erinomaisesti. Kitarat soivat kirkkaasti sekä selkeästi, mutta sitä munaakaan ei ole tyystin unohdettu. Mäksän basso jyllää mukavasti taustalla ja rumapli Mikko Salo hoitaa hommansa hillitysti, mutta vahvasti. Fumblen kantava voima on kuitenkin laulaja Rami Korhonen, jonka käheä ääni antaa bändille selkeän tunnisteleiman. Välillä kuultavat köörilaulut toimivat myös hienosti, ja taustalauluja olisi voinut käyttää vielä enemmänkin.

Rise on mukava ja hyväntuulinen debyytti tältä jo alun perin 90-luvulla perustetulta (sittemmin siis hajonnut ja uudelleenkasattu) yhtyeeltä. Yksitoista kappaletta soljuu mukavasti läpi uudelleen ja uudelleen, mutta mitään ihmeellistä Rise ei kuitenkaan tarjoa. Kohokohtia ei löydy ja välillä noudatetaan liiankin orjallisesti vanhoja tuttuja kaavoja. Selkeät repäisyt siis puuttuvat. Ehdottomasti kuitenkin toimiva debyytti. - Rokkizine / 1.7.2007 / Pekka Pessi

Helsinkiläinen nelikko siirtyy pitkäsoitollaan selvästi irti aiemmin kaikaneista voimapop-elementeistä. Nyt yhtyeellä soi melodinen punk rock, tosin aika puhtaasti ja kiitettävän rennosti. Joko ne poweripoppi-mietteet on lähtenyt ihan omasta korvasta tai sitten Ramonesin innoittamana jo 90-luvun alkupuolella alun perin viritelleet herrat ovat palanneet juurilleen. Mikään kauhia hoppu ei soitossa ole ja vaikkakin soitto on rouheahkolla laululla kaartava, niin melkoisen rauhallisen melodinen ja melankolinen lätty on kyseessä.

Löytyyhän levyltä kipakampaakin potkua, vaikkei ehkä ihan mitään yy-kaa-koo-nee-tyylistä pyristelyä kaahatakaan. Heti avausraita We Are On Fire pistää mukavan energisesti, mutta ote on silti rento ja aika kepeästi rullaava. Melodisuus on avainsana. Silti, parhaimmillaan yhtye tuntuu olevan reippaampien rallien kuten Forgotten Hearts ja Burning Down parissa. Rauhallisempi materiaali tuntuu hiukan hukkaavan ideansa. Eikä se idea noissa rivakammissakaan kohdissa mitenkään kauhian omaleimaisena kiiltele. Melkoisen virkistävää melodisempaa punkittelua aika perusilmeellä. - Desibeli.net / 24.06.2007 / Ilkka Valpasvuo

Helsinki's FUMBLE play mid-paced melodic punk rock in the vein of early SAMIAM and GAMEFACE, and maybe a bit of BODYJAR. The band's songs are sunny, simple and sublimely catchy. The lead vocals could be a little stronger but that might just be the whole 'heavy Finnish accents singing English' thing. If this was 1996 and Dr. Strange was still signing new bands, I'd be steering the band in their direction. - Pastepunk / 13.7.2007 / Jordan A. Baker

"Everything comes honestly from the heart"

Suiciderock: Fumble was actually formed in 1991, but you broke up in 1994 and reformed the band again in 2003. What happened and would you say you`re the same „Fumble" as back in 1994?
Rami K: Well, back in the days we have been 20 years old and we started moving to different cities to study. The original line-up Ville, Pekka and me also had some personal difficulties. So we decided to quit the band. Some years passed `til Onni and me met up at some club in Helsinki one night. There we decided to start the band again. We went to the rehearsal place and within about ten minutes we`ve already created one song. That was so great. We had several bands while our break, but this is definately the music we want to play.

Suiciderock: For everyone who doesn`t know about „Fumble", what would you tell him?
Rami K: Well, we play melodic punk rock, we love all kinds of music starting from the 60's over the 70's to the current music styles. We love what we do. I think everybody who comes to our shows can see that.

Suiciderock: Did you start just for fun or was your intention to get something serious out of this band?
Rami K: We`ll see what happens. The reason why we found „Fumble" was to make as good music as possible and play to as many people as possible in as interesting places as possible. For example at the Arctic Circle as we do today or in Germany or wherever the people want us to play.

Suiciderock: Does your bandname have a special meaning for you and what is the story behind your band name?
Rami K: The name was just a short name, which is a little bit funny as well. It comes from the early days. We have heard lots of stuff about the name and we also got lots of critics regarding the name. We were thinking about a new name, because we have two new members in the band. We tried stupid names like „Idiot Heroes" and even performed once with that name, but we decided to simply keep the old one.

Suiciderock: Every band has his own music heroes. Who are your heroes and which band or singer do you want to make a song with?
Rami K: Well, there are so many. I can only tell you about my personal heroes, because everybody has his own special taste. Bruce Springsteen is one. My mum once took me to a piano lesson and I was afraid that I`m going to learn something from Beethoven. The teacher looked at me and asked me if I want to learn to play classic music or rock. I made the decision for rock. After that we watched Bruce Springsteen for 3 hours. I actually use the same system when I write songs. Of course, I also like The Ramones, bands like Bad Religion made me become interested into punk music. Also Snuff, but nowadays I`m into different bands such as Descendents, Samiam, Jawbreaker, The Clash, early Oasis etc. as well.

Suiciderock: What is your first musical memory?
Rami K: I can`t exactly remember my first musical memory, but I remember when I was at the summer cottage of my family. My 8 years older brother had this Greatest Hits tape from the 80's and we listened to it in the car. It was really hot inside this car and we were partying to the 80's music. I think the tape was one of these "Wow! That's what i call music"-tapes with a groovy pig on the cover. I think it had songs from Bowie, Duran Duran etc.

Suiciderock: Who is responsible for the songwriting and where do you take your inspiration from?
Rami K: Our guitarist and me are responsible for the lyrics. Sometimes we play the songs three month to one year until it finally finds its place on our setlist. I probably bring most of the song ideas and lyrics for the band and than we make a song out of that together.

Suiciderock: Your debut album „Rise" has been released on 04th of June this year. Could you tell us something about the time in the studio?
Rami K: Yeah, we didn`t spent any time in the studio. We didn`t have a proper studio for the recordings, but the mastering was done in one of the best studios in Finland with one of the best mastering engineer called Minerva Pappi. The actual recording was done in interesting places like an old farmhouse in the country side. It was a very beautiful place. Most parts of the other recordings were done at the rehearsal room of a good friend at a mini hobby studio. We were lucky enough to do some recordings there. I`m not sure if we gonna do the next record the same way.


Suiciderock: What can people expect from the album?
Rami K: They can expect eleven songs. Each of this songs will have something that you can remember, that you can fell into. So, buy the album and come to our shows. When we get together you will start singing with us and we will have a great time.

Suiciderock: You already toured three times in Spain. How did that happen and how went the tour?
Rami K: After we regrouped in 2003 we became an semi-active rehearsal band, meaning that we played in the basement, but almost never played shows or were in anyways active publicly. Then in late 2005 our guitarist Onni suggested that why don't we go to play in Barcelona. I don't know where he got that idea. Anyways, it seemed so impossible that we took the challenge and after calling about dozen venues without knowing Spanish we finally managed to book a show in a great club near Barcelona called Sala Seattle. We played there one Sunday and everything just fell into place during that show. We had such great time and people liked us. The promoter of the venue thanked us and said that if we want to tour in Spain he will organize it. He is a guy called Juanan and has his own Management company. Then we went on tour in summer 2006. We had great time and became friends with Juanan and he organized also the tour this May. These tours have been very important in gluing us together as a band and making us see what is possible with Fumble.

Suiciderock: While talking about live shows. How would you desrcibe your own gigs?
Rami K: I would say that there is some special pure and positive energy in our shows. We've been around for so long that everything comes honestly from the heart and it seems that people can really sense that. I think everyone in the band has a distinctive stage personality. Like for example Mäksä is so great just taking it cool while me and Onni mess around like overcharged duracel rabbits. Our drummer Mikko has a great sense for show dramatics so there is always some surprises for all of us. Also, people are starting to sing along more and more in our shows and there's starting to be some stage diving occasionally.

Suiciderock: What was your best and your worst show so far?
Rami K: The worst was probably in Tampere late last year when we played right after the National Day and hardly anyone came to the show. It was tough, because Tampere is such a great rock city. The best vibe so far was this year in Cartagena where we played in this really cool Irish rock bar Underground. We played with a great local band Lazarus and the night turned into an incredible mega-party. The evening before we had hard time finding a place to eat or a bar to drink in the same city. We just walked on empty streets and thought that this place is pretty boring. Then the next night it was the greatest action in the whole tour.

Suiciderock: What was the most embarassing moment in your young music career so far?
Rami K: I've always been very bad with the equipment. Once I was complaining to our guitarist Onni that my amp is broken. He opened the amp, checked electricity, changed the tubes and still it did not work. I think he spent something like 40 minutes fixing it, but nothing worked. Then after a while I realized that I had actually inserted my guitar to the pedal input, not the guitar input. So actually the amp had worked fine all along. I did not get much technician points from Onni. I think I'm getting a little better with the equipment now.

Suiciderock: If you have the chance to organise your own festival. Who would perform?
Rami K: That's a tough one, but if we would do it Finland it would be great to have bands that have not been here before, like for example Social Distortion, AFI and Alkaline Trio. In my dreams get Rocket from the Crypt play together once more. Coheed and Cambria would be cool to have as well. And then all the cool upcoming bands that we have played with in the past years.

Suiciderock: Your future plans for the band?
Rami: Well, we want to keep on playing and we want to make great albums. And we want to come to Germany.

Suiciderock: Some special words for the readers of suiciderock.com?
Rami K: Listen to our music on MySpace, come to our shows and experience something surprising, exploding and fun. We're catchy and our music is sometimes dark, but we're always a bit different from the polished mall-punk you get from everywhere else. Check us out yourself.

Rovaniemi / Simerock 2007
- Suiciderock

Finland's Rise are refreshing for sounding nothing like the majority of US punk bands around at the minute and instead opting for a sound which comes across more like Samiam than Sum 41. This 11-track album may be one of two songs too long, but on the whole it's a really well crafted record that showcases a band with plenty of songwriting talent. 'Burning Down', for example, is a really, really good song. And then they follow it up with the brooding 'Reduction' to show they're no one trick ponies. I wasn't really expecting too much, so 'Rise' ended up being a pleasant surprise. If you like your punk to have plenty of rock - and a slight Euro tinge - Fumble are the band for you. - Punktastic / 30.09.07 / Paul