The Hayleys is a Finnish rock/metal/punk act from Jyväskylä. The band was formed in 2011 and after releasing three English language albums as Hayley’s Royal Whores, they released their Finnish debut in 2015. Now the album gets a follow up by their sophomore album “Raato.”
The album contains 9 tracks, which are in general short but very powerful. The album is only a 19 minute listen, so it’s safe to say that the tracks are straight-to-the-point and filled with an attitude of poise, even the guitar solos are short of length, but show also the skills these musicians own.
The first track of the album “Mä Aion Vetää Viivat” already shows what the four piece has in line for us for the next 20 minutes. Punk that is fresh, rough and slightly infused with thrash metal. Title track “Raato” which, with its 3 minutes, is the longest track on the album and definitely the highlight of the album. “Raato” because of its intro, has a slight Black Sabbath vibe, the song builds up slower, has a nice atmosphere, and is different from the rest of the album. The song is more melodic, and has more tendencies to hardcore than punk, but this combination makes it especially intriguing. “I Like Brazil” picks up the tempo again, with a lot of blast beats, interesting vocal work, it serves as a great build up to the next track “Kyykäärme”. The biggest surprise lies, however in the last track of the album “En Elä Viittä Päivää”, which has a very nice groove to it.
Despite the brevity of the songs, there is plenty of captivating things happening in their music: tempo changes, a handful of dynamics in a short space of time, the songs sound well structured and I even dare to say that the underlying sense of melody makes the songs quite catchy at times. The production value of the album, is far from perfect, but considering the genre, that certain roughness it has, adds that extra attitude to it. Because of that this album offers a nice break to anyone who is an enthusiast of punk, influenced by rock and metal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TG8IUs6XFw
Tracklist
- Lassie Palaa Kotiin
- Mä Aion Vetää Viivat
- Sielu Irtoo Ruumiista
- Raato
- Kuollut Turre Ei Murise
- I Like Brazil
- Kyykäärme
- Kusiset Sukkahousut
- En Elä Viittä Päivää
Lineup
Pasi Crash – Vocals, Guitars
Alex North – Bass
Teme Schnapps – Keyboard
Jimmy Grey– Drums
