Uniklubi

Finland's Uniklubi fused the visceral drive of AFI with the anguished emotional tone of My Chemical Romance, reaching the summit of their domestic charts during the opening years of the 2000s. The group originated in 1999 under the name Pincenez, founded by singer Jussi Selo and guitarist Pasi Vitala. One year later bassist Teemu Rajamaki came aboard along with Selo's sister Janne, prompting the collective to adopt the moniker Uniklubi, rendered in English as Dreamclub. From that point they focused on cutting numerous demos, most of them in English, while performing extensively across Finland. A single performance proved decisive, drawing the interest of industry figures and leading directly to a contract with Lumbago/Universal. Their first full-length effort, Rakkautta Ja Piikkilankaa (Love and Barbed Wire), appeared in 2004 and climbed to the Finnish Top Five. The album's title track emerged as the most-played song of the year on YleX, Finland's largest radio outlet, and the band received an Emma Award as Best New Band. Their follow-up, Keha (Circle), arrived the next year, entering the Finnish album chart at number one and holding a position inside the Top 20 for more than five months. Additional honors followed: the video for "Huomenna" earned an Emma for Best Video, while Uniklubi collected a Panda-Femma trophy recognizing their makeup design. Their third album, Luotisade, was scheduled for release in 2007.