Loki's Folly

FEBRUARY 23, 2023 [Minneapolis, MN] — Comprised of three siblings from South Minneapolis (Annie Kuchenmeister: age 21, guitarist and singer; Nissa: age 16, drummer and singer; and Oskar: age 12, bassist and singer), LOKI'S FOLLY uses their shared upbringing as the glue that holds together their fresh-faced indie punk. Today, shortly after the release of the band’s debut album [Sisu, release date: February 21, 2023 via Kitten Robot Records], Teen Vogue is premiering the video for their high-spirited indie rock track “Beaches and Peaches.” 
 
Embracing playful, frolicking vocals against a frenetic instrumental pileup, “Beaches and Peaches” began as “goofing off during a practice session trying to rhyme different fruits and vegetables while slowly intermixing stronger feelings and some humor into the anxiety over things like climate change, politics and where humanity will be in the next number of years," as Annie explains. 

For their upcoming album release show at 7th St Entry in Minneapolis (N 7th St, Minneapolis, MN 55402) on Sunday, February 26, Loki's Folly will be performing album tracks such as “The Love Song” (decreeing the toll that bullying has on someone), the high-octane “No Right” (which documents the frustration for the casual injustices women face every day), and the fuzzed-out “Appease the Girl,” which features Soul Asylum's Dave Pirner on guitar and is a song Annie wrote about navigating the world as an autistic person. “The song itself is a song I wrote describing the autistic meltdowns I would have in school and the lack of response or care from the adults at the school in that situation,” she explained. 

What The Press Is Saying:

"Loki's Folly play this odd and unique style of indie rock. Their new single, 'Beaches and Peaches,' has this playful and quirky quality that isn't quite like anything you've heard before. I'm going to attribute how unique the song is to their ages. Not because they haven't learned how play music, but more because they haven't learned how not to play. It's such an odd but fun arrangement of music. If I have to compare Loki's Folly to anyone, I would say it's a mash up of Jonathan Richman, Beat Happening, and The Shaggs."- If It's Too Loud

"'Beaches and Peaches' is instantly catchy, full of classic punk grievances like the corruption of “everything” and the punctuation of each verse line with a primal howl. The breakdown has twinkling bells and a well-timed slide whistle. Loki’s Folly are fully realized out the gates with a sound that is original and urgent. Their personalities are engrained in the notes."
- The Luna Collective

“The album Sisu is a real mix of styles combining the anger and attitude of riot grrrl with the fuzzy instrumentation of 90s indie and a good dose of punk rock energy. The tracks are a collated history of the band- songs that have been written at various points along their journey to honing their style and sound. As a result, there’s a juxtaposition between more playground, sing-a-long jaunty tracks and their heavier, more sophisticated counterparts which makes for one very eclectic album.” - Punktuation! Magazine

"There is something undeniably pure in sound and spirit in the music of Loki’s Folly. From the jolly, perfectly imperfect harmonizing, to the bouncy drum beat and jangly guitars, to lyrics like “I’m sitting on the beaches, eating peaches, the government is corrupt”, you can’t listen to this track and not smile. Coming in at under two minutes, Loki’s Folly are aiming for the title of the Next Great Garage Band, and they may already have my vote." - The Indy Review

Since the songs on their debut album are a culmination of work done throughout their childhood (some of the songs for Sisu were originally recorded around 2017, with the rest from 2019 and on), Annie says it has been an amazing experience "growing up" alongside the album.“Most of our inspiration came from personal experiences in our childhood and teen years since that is when we were writing the songs, as well as from movies, TV shows, books, and comic books that we were reading at the time." She also adds that most of the songs on the album have very personal connections and portray a lot of the things they find “difficult to communicate.”

With Finnish culture weaving a thread through parts of the local Minneapolis music scene (the annual festival based in the city, FinnFest USA celebrates Finland's impact on the region and attracts over a thousand people annually), (and with the family’s Finnish heritage), the Finnish word “sisu” (a word that roughly translates to inner strength) was commonly heard by the siblings growing up. As they were wrapping up the recording of the as-yet-untited album, "sisu" seemed to attach itself to the essence of the record, encapsulating the heavy emotional toll that the COVID pandemic lockdowns had on the family and world at large in late 2021. However, “that theme [of isolation and loneliness] is flipped by the connection between us as a band playing as a unified force and the connection to be made with the listener,” Annie says exuberantly. Inherent in the record is the “crossing over from loneliness to togetherness, and the joy that can be found in finding people who share your experiences.”

The band recorded Sisu at a few different places, starting off at Flowers Studio recording three songs with Ryan Smith and Ed Ackerson (Motion City Soundtrack, The Replacements, The Jayhawks) shortly before he passed. The trio recalls their time working with Ackerson as, “One of the most amazing experiences in the world.” They then spent a day at IPR and recorded eight more songs with Kevin Bowe (Paul Westerberg and the Replacements) and Smith. They also recorded “The Little Mermaid” in their basement with their cousin Russell Mark while he was visiting from Los Angeles. It was over the pandemic lockdowns - when Annie and Nissa were working with Smith at his home studio (The Flight Simulator) doing the overdubs and mixing - that the sisters added their little brother, Oskar, onto the recordings playing bass guitar. “After having learned the instrument to join the band there is nothing more fun than seeing that happen and getting to hear him on the album,” Annie says joyously. The band also had the opportunity to work with John Fields (Pink, Miley Cyrus, Andrew W.K., and Demi Lovato) who helped them find ways to work creatively while doing all the mixing remotely during the pandemic.
 
Loki's Folly’s debut album Sisu is now available on all platforms via Kitten Robot Records. The video for “Beaches and Peaches” is out now.