JOENSUU1685 has been playing together since early 2007. The band includes Mikko (vocals, guitar and farfisa), Markus (drums) and Risto Joensuu (bass), Mikko and Markus are brothers and Risto happens to have the same surname.

The band released their first album in September 2008 and it has been really critically acclaimed in Finnish media (and also abroad). Finnish music magazine Rumba praised it as "the best domestic debut by far year 2008", other finnish music magazine Soundi acclaimed that Joensuu 1685 is "new and ambitious indie-rock". Joensuu1685 has been compared to those great giants of psycho-rock like My Bloody Valentine and Jesus and Mary Chain as to the fellow countrymen 22-Pistepirkko. Bone Voyage Records, a small indie label owned by members of 22 Pistepirkko released the debut album and the "7 single. The bassplayer and keyboard player of 22-Pistepirkko Asko Keränen produced the self titled (Joensuu 1685) LP together Joensuu1685.


The band is known for its live-performances. They are a splendid mixture of strobo lights, tender walls of sound, pastoral Farfisa organ scweeches, jammed bass and drum lines crazy tambourines. The tempo is urging to change from dead slow to dangerously fast. The band is playing with its faith and taking risks on stage. Live performances really are on the edge of the blade and can go chrash-boom-bang at any second. The whole is crowned with the angelic vocal leads from Mikko Joensuu.

I can say that here will be the band that will make it internationally if there is justice in this world. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.