HUMPA HUMPA HUMPA!

[Video][Website]
[6.00]

Chuck Eddy: Finnish humpa-metal forest trolls famous for having several songs about alcohol (mostly beer) make a Rock En Español move, not so huge a stretch given how “humpa” basically equals “polka” basically equals “all the accordion music in Mexico.” And seriously, this could almost pass for a Maldita Vecindad song. Which doesn’t make it quite as neat as “Ukon Wacka,” Korpiklaani’s previous single with Tuomari Nurmio — supposedly Finland’s answer to Tom Waits — guesting, since that one’s eerie beauty sounds so much like John Anderson’s Everglades country classic “Seminole Wind.” But it makes it close.
[8]

Anthony Easton: Would this be darker or more problematic, or more broken, if it appeared in English instead of Finnish? Love the flailing, the violence, the invocation to the dark side, but that might all be Nordic.
[5]

Edward Okulicz: Back in the day when scanning the Finnish charts was genuinely one of the high points of my week, I marvelled at how folk and accordions as well as metal and screaming and scary blokes were not sounds of niche genres but a huge part of the big-selling pop landscape. “Tequila” is like having all of these elements — prosaic to a Finn, but insanely exciting and exotic to me — thrown at you in three minutes. Of course, that makes for an interesting record, but the fact that the pace never lets up, the drumming is fun and the riffs are punchy make it a good one too.
[7]

Josh Langhoff: I THINK this is what I expected King Changó to sound like back in 1996 (gah) — non-stop Latin rock, bursting with unhinged percussion fills and soccer shouts and bright primary-color chord changes. But that can’t be, because King Changó were on David Byrne’s world music label and therefore not allowed to do any of that stuff. I’m not sure they ever claimed to rock either. So now I’m not sure who I’m thinking of — maybe Mephiskapheles? In any case, this blows away most rock en español, ska, and Finnish troll polka I’ve heard, and also it sounds like “Stereo Love”.
[9]

Brad Shoup: That reminds me: I hate Gogol Bordello. Hate ’em as a band, as a lifestyle, as a brand of conditioner. Slap on a few signifiers, play the party evangelist, sweat on people. The recordings are irrelevant to the game. And now I have to deal with another frantic, tuneless multi-culti hustle? What, is it Eurovision time already?
[0]

Ian Mathers: I actually don’t have a problem with the idea of “folk metal,” but on the basis of this song, Korpiklaani sound like Lordi jamming with Gogol Bordello. The band is thus cordially invited to go piss up a rope.
[3]

Michaela Drapes: It’s nice to know that Finland has its own version of Gogol Bordello and Andrew WK tied up in one package. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a guitar processed to sound like an accordion before; it is, however, really awesome.
[6]

Pete Baran: If I had done my usual scant research before I had listened to Tequila I have a sense that I may not have had to listen to Tequila at all. A Finnish folk metal band that appears to sing exclusively about alcoholic drinks. Admittedly after doing the research, I would have had to listen to them to anyway a) find out if they sound like I would imagine (A: Yes), b) because I imagined that to be one of the most awesome band concepts ever (A: It is).
[7]

Martin Skidmore: I can’t say Finnish metal is something I know anything about, but this is really fun. It throws a lot at you at aggressively hyperactive pace and high volume with some strong growling vocals, and it sounds like they’re enjoying themselves hugely, and as it turns out so am I. A fantastically pleasing visceral surprise.
[9]

Jonathan Bradley: Ostensibly metal, but the brisk power chords, Latin American fixation, and exuberant gang shouts suggest ’90s Californian punk has been reborn by the Baltic Sea. The members of Rancid are kicking themselves for not having coming up with those drum fills themselves.
[7]

Zach Lyon: This is certainly something, but without any lyrical context outside of the word “Tequila,” the only comparisons I can make are decidedly unoriginal: a Nordic metal take on Gogol Bordello, and that’s it. According to Wiki, Korpiklaani (dir. Godfrey Reggio) named their album after “an ancient pagan sacrificial feast, dedicated to Ukko,” and I’m curious to know if Finnish mythology runs throughout their other tracks (or this one — alcohol isn’t unimportant in the Kalevala) because Finnish mythology is awesome. Alas, here we are.
[5]