PMMP

Line-up: Paula Vesala (vocals, lyrics), Mira Luoti (vocals, lyrics), Jori Sjöroos (music and production). Sjöroos wouldn't take part in any promotional or live appearances, and instead from day one there technically existed a second version of PMMP i.e. the live iteration: besides Vesala and Luoti, that's Juho Vehmanen (bass), Heikki Kytölä (drums) and Mikko Virta (guitars).

When PMMP first entered the public consciousness, the general consensus was that we were witnessing another flash in the pan who'd promptly disappear back to nowhere after their obnoxious summer hit had faded away from the airwaves. By the time their ten-year run finished in 2013 with a series of celebratory arena concerts, PMMP had transformed into one of the key artists of the Finnish music scene of the 2000s and one that many of those former naysayers now pretended they had always cheered for. They were a humongous public success with one of the best singles runs of the artists of this era, a must-see live experience that would be a riot at every festival they appeared, and a group lauded critically by both the critics and the music nerds - and one would be amiss not to mention just how important a band fronted by two women who were clearly best friends was for a certain demographic who finally had someone they could relate to. PMMP are not just a fascinating story of relative underdogs striking gold to a degree no one could expect, but their relatively short five-album run (plus a few extras) is one of the most exciting, interesting discographies of the post-millennium Finnish music scene.

But few, if any, of you will have even the slightest idea of who they were when you chose to open this page, so let's take it from the beginning.

The origin story of PMMP begins in the unlikeliest of places: in the 2002 Finnish edition of Pop Stars, the pre-Idol TV talent competition show for aspiring young singers wanting to be mainstream pop artists. Both Paula Vesala and Mira Luoti, the two frontwomen, took part in the season and made it past the initial auditions, but were eliminated soon after before the live finals took place (their "firing" scenes and criticisms are rather amusing in hindsight, citing lack of distinct voice and personality...). Thinking they shared the same energy, a talent scout from Sony BMG approached both women after the competition and suggested they joined forces to front a project the label was working on to effectively push the songs that had been rejected from being recorded by the winning artist. This plan took no time to fall through (for a very good reason) but Vesala and Luoti quickly became close friends and enjoyed the idea of working together. Luoti was childhood friends with the producer/songwriter Jori Sjöroos (we know him from elsewhere), who agreed to become the invisible third partner of the budding relationship. Sjöroos would take care of all the music, while Vesala and Luoti would bring the project to life with their immense charisma and firecracker personalities and took responsibility for the lyrics. Their chosen moniker PMMP means either "Paulan ja Miran molemmat puolet" - "both sides of Mira and Paula" - or "Paula Mira Mira Paula" depending on who you ask, with the similar branding to ABBA's name being an intentional nod (and an early sign of ambition, that's for sure). Because Sjöroos didn't want to be involved with the performance side of things, Luoti enlisted more of her old school friends and their mates as their backing band - Vehmanen, Kytölä and Virta became their band forevermore and a vital part of PMMP's history even if they rarely played on the records.

PMMP's debut single "Rusketusraidat" became a bonafide summer smash hit - despite (or because of) the fact that it divided opinions and intentionally irritated some of the audience (I'll go through it in more detail in the respective album entry). It had all the hallmarks of a novelty one-hit wonder and though the follow-up singles received enough airplay to be considered hits in their own right, the backlash was fierce from day one and few saw the two as anything but mindless bimbos (the 2025 documentary does a harrowing job about highlighting the sheer amount of patronising misogyny that met them in every turn) who'd never see another summer. But those who paid attention could hear traces that the future wasn't quite as predictable as that. Vesala, Luoti and Sjöroos were all big fans of 70s and 80s alternative rock in all its varieties from classic singer/songwriter melodies to the fury of punk and the gloomy and gothic post-punk that followed; some of these influences they'd cite in interviews, and a few cuts on the otherwise polished debut leaned towards them musically. The group also took no time at all to become a loud and fierce live act who became famous for being able to change how people thought of them in the space of a 30-minute festival set. I was a member on a Finnish forum in the early 2000s when "Rusketusraidat" was taking hold of the entire country and I remember a general music discussion thread where one forumite pushed back against a handful of people dismissing PMMP, suggesting that there was perhaps more to them than others would think.

PMMP would prove the naysayers wrong. Their subsequent pair of albums imbibed deeper from their inspirations, giving them an entirely new career trajectory as they built a whole new kind of momentum behind them. Arguably partly "inspired" by the backlash, PMMP were keen to prove everyone wrong - not by making big claims or going on a direct offensive by changing who they inherently were, but simply by revealing the side that had always been there but now making it so obvious that it was damn near a revelation. They were still rowdy lightning balls full of at-times bratty, sneery energy - but they were also muscular and angry, both aching and poignant, and often also both surprising and shocking in the curveballs they could throw. While Vesala and Luoti were both behind the band's lyrics, Vesala soon rose to be the primary wordsmith for the group and soon established herself as one of the key lyricists of this era of Finnish music. She could carry vivid imagery with resonant turns of phrase, knew how to both twist the knives as well hold a comforting hand out with her words, and the relatable everyday melancholy that now appeared throughout band's lyrics could easily pierce any defenses. That I'm somehow having to try to describe the quality of their lyrics in a different language to a largely non-Finnish speaking audience is bound to be a challenge, but what PMMP were saying became just as important as how they were saying it. Almost overnight they were a band that people began to take seriously, growing out of the shadow of their "Creep" and into their The Bends and beyond. The debut, despite its mega smash status, is in retrospect a false start and something you caveat if someone intends to listen to the discography chronologically. Why PMMP matter is what came in afterwards, particularly once they began to view albums as more than just collections of songs. Their untamed power could just as easily break doors as well as hearts, their impassioned deliveries seizing control of the space around the singers while Sjöroos' musical visions became more multi-layered and sprawling.

It says something about PMMP's power that I got into them at the same time everyone else was as well. Back when I still lived in Finland, I didn't pay too much attention to Finnish music and certainly not Finnish-language music - I was too much of a teenage anglophile, obsessed with my British artsy rock albums and the US indie rock to the detriment of whatever was happening in my own country, its language too familiar and normal to strike interesting to me. Some artists did break that barrier of young folly though, PMMP among them. The music came first: the radio hits were irresistable and even I had to admit it. Then when I started listening to the albums, the lyrics hit twice as much - the combination of these infectous, masterfully crafted hooks with these piercing lyrics was nothing short of excellent, as the grand emotions were delivered with the charm and swagger of pop and decorated with left-field arrangement ideas straight from the weirder corner of the Finnish underground. PMMP sounded like a whole lot of things thanks to their genre-fluid approach to making music, trying out different styles and sounds like outfits - because why should they restrict themselves to one single method of expression when it's their journey, and who could stop them anyway even if they tried? - but they never sounded anything more or less than themselves. They were fierce, exciting and evocative.

After a decade of active conquest, PMMP surprised everyone by calling it a day while they were still on top. Behind the scenes, the group's twenties spent together had begun to show growing pains: while the arguments and disagreements were kept strictly within the inner circles (the public had no idea), their increased prevalence meant that the group agreed to split ways while leaving behind a legacy worth remembering, rather than throwing it away with one forced and dysfunctional record after another. Solo albums followed (Vesala in particular continued the string of hits with hers), then the comfortable life of semi-retired artists who could partake in any random projects that inspired them. A reunion eventually took place in 2024, inspired by Vesala's birthday party the year before where she, Luoti and most of the old backing band decided to play "Rusketusraidat" for old times' sake - and then suddenly found themselves playing more and more songs until they realised they were accidentally throwing on an impromptu PMMP reunion concert. A series of official concerts followed - which became one of the key pop culture phenomenons of 2024 - but the group intended from the start for it to be nothing but a temporary reunion of briefly estranged once-close friends re-discovering their love for each other and reliving their younger years. No new material emerged and by the end of it, the band made it clear that you shouldn't hold your breath for another reunion either. The relatively snappy discography therefore remains as the band's only piece of legacy, but untarnished and remarkably consistent (spoilers, I guess). Despite its relatively short nature the PMMP back catalogue is one of my favourites of the Finnish 2000s, and generally speaking one of the most consistent runs of the decade overall. And now the real challenge begins - how to convey it to everyone else.

(For what it's worth, I'm not going to feature the 2007 children's album Puuhevonen on this page. While I've heard it and some of the arrangements of Finnish children's standards are rather inspired, I don't think I'd have much to say from a bunch of literal children's songs I never listen to.)

Main Chronology:

• 2003: Kuulkaas enot!
• 2005: Kovemmat kädet
• 2006: Leskiäidin tyttäret
• 2009: Veden varaan
• 2012: Rakkaudesta
• 2013: Matkalaulu

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Main Chronology

KUULKAAS ENOT!  

1) Niina; 2) Kesä-95; 3) Rusketusraidat; 4) Odotan; 5) Joutsenet; 6) Synestesia; 7) Poika; 8) Onnellinen päivä; 9) Isin pikku tyttö; 10) Ikuinen leikki

Your typical patchy debut, but full of charismatic energy and enough hidden depths to keep you intrigued.

Let's talk about "Rusketusraidat" first. Why not - it was after all the first thing we heard from PMMP, and people certainly talked about it a whole lot in the summer of 2003. The video takes place in a very archetypical posh summer party (you know it's fancypants when the introductionary speech is held in Swedish instead of Finnish), which is then crashed by our two heroines who promptly go out their way to bring chaos and anarchy in the middle of high society. The two women sing about their search to sleep with someone after finally tasting freedom from their strict upbringing, they interrupt every moment of silence with ad-libs, their delivery is full of bonafide brattitude and the production is as in-your-face contemporary as it gets. The opening line and the subsequent key hook is a screamed-out "helvetin hyvin menee" - "going goddamn well" - aimed with precision at any pearl-clutcher who'd have a heart attack from such blatant front-and-centre swearing in a pop song. "Rusketusraidat" is obnoxious and very intentionally so, but there's a real sharp pop song working underneath - that is why it became the biggest hit of 2003 in Finland, as well as why it's still a hoot in 2025 too. There's joy in its rowdy irritability, a real sense of fun in its call-to-arms shout to throw away all inhibitions. It is absolutely a borderline novelty affair as well, and the kind of song that could easily cast a lesser band down the depths of one-hit-wonderdom - but I can't help but think about Radiohead's "Creep" which was in a similar situation when it kicked off its respective career path (just replace the OTT abrasiveness with OTT sadboyism)...

Kuulkaas enot! is recognisably from the same sessions that brought "Rusketusraidat". The production is extremely 2003 with the dynamically flat crunchy guitars, busy textures and the slick drum programming that trips so ever-so-slightly towards sounding almost like live drums that it's a little annoying. As you may recall from the introduction Vesala and Luoti did meet following a pop show and were interested to some degree in heading towards that kind of playing field, and it's apparent from how the debut album sounds that they're still aiming to be roughly there. Both women are practically confrontational in their delivery throughout, perfectly exemplifying the sheer level of attitude depicted on the front cover: they're young, rebellious and will absolutely take shit from no one, and they're stating that loud and clear. The album as a whole rocks a little more openly than "Rusketusraidat" (which saves its guitar energy mainly for the chorus) but that only emphasises the point: "Niina" opens the album by kicking the doors down through the vocal delivery that sounds like it's trying to punch you and the guitars that punctuate the goings with sharp electrified power chord stabs, and "Isin pikku tyttö" is full-on snotty punk mayhem that speeds into a tornado of inhuman screams and complete dismantling of any melody.

You'll have seen the twist coming: there's more to Kuulkaas enot! than meets the eye. Throughout the record PMMP drop hints that while they're currently having a whale of a time being recording artists and riding on the high of it, they've got hidden depths that are itching to come out. They start coming out as early as "Kesä-95", somewhat awkwardly slotted between the terrible twins "Niina" and "Rusketusraidat" at the start of the album. It's a really unexpected and genuinely affectingly told little vignette about two close school friends broken apart when one of them moves out of town, and it gives plenty of space to its vulnerably lovely central melody that is let to fly free across the extended semi-instrumental coda. The centerpiece ballad "Joutsenet" has tangible ache and anger to it that's like listening to a wholly different band, and both the squint-and-it's-post-punk "Odotan" and the closing rabbit hole of swooshing guitars and spiralling melodies "Ikuinen leikki" sound so much more detailed in their arrangement that it's clear Sjöroos is already starting to stretch the limits. Both Luoti and Vesala are still coming to their own as lyricists and for every slight misstep (like the drowned boy drama of "Poika" that's a little too school poem project-esque) there's a line or a lyric that jumps out as either curiously resonant or cunningly striking. The origin of what would become recognised as PMMP's own identity is here, between the lines of the trio searching for it while just having a bit of good time together.

You don't need to have the retrospective insight on PMMP's career to spot the flaws on Kuulkaas enot!. Its song material is clearly uneven, where the likes of "Kesä-95", "Niina" and "Joutsenet" easily fit in with the best of PMMP but the overworked seriousness of "Poika" and the largely superfluous "Onnellinen päivä" are among the weakest, while the others largely fall in the positive side but are instead so tonally all over the place they still feel off together. The production is sometimes a little overbearing in its Pro Tools pristineness and it never makes comfortable bedfellows with some of the rawer and rougher arrangement ideas, leading the album to feel a little toothless despite its thunderbolt energy. It's also, generally speaking, just very clear the trio have rushed into the production of the record before fully realising what their collaboration could actually look like. But it's also a lot of fun (most of the time) and suitably thrilling (most of the time): both Vesala and Luoti already shine through with their charisma and their presence here is so magnetic, it's enough to make you a believe in whatever the hell they're doing at any given time. Most artists would make a hideous mess out of a genuine punk dirge like "Isin pikku tyttö" on a pop album, but our heroes here make it not just a thoroughly rivoting three minutes but also convince it's downright integral to the very core of what they're trying to achieve (also the reserved psychedelia of "Ikuinen liekki" follows on it so perfectly that its a genuine tracklist Moment. Disorganised, uneven, yet promising and exciting and ultimately decently good? Well, that's just your trope-like wet-behind-the-ears debut and that's precisely what Kuulkaas enot! is - it just also has the distinction of featuring a monster hit that would a) become an anchor around the group's neck and b) cause this album to perhaps unfairly to have some canonical weight to it. It's strong enough to prove the point that PMMP were never going to be just one-hit-wonders, but nonetheless too inconsistent to ever be anything but the obvious weakest link of the discography.

Physically: Clear jewel case, with a booklet full of photos of the duo (the live band would still be just that, and Sjöroos was so shy about the project that he hid behind "Th!nk-!nk" moniker, much less ever show his face) and all the lyrics. The irreverent sense of humour is present all over the place - in the promo shots, in the chaotic font choices, in the note scribbled next to the instructions on how to access the enhanced content ("in normal language: stick it in your PC and that'll do!").

[Reviewed: 10/10/2025]