Joensuu 1687

“I’m On Fire” b/w “Perfect Grace”

scum stats: limited to 333 hand-numbered copies, white vinyl, like most (all?) Fitzro singles, comes with a pinback badge

Man, I was wild about the Fitzorvian Phonographic label when I first heard about it. Suspiciously bought a copy of their first single “Killing Flaw” by Benjamin Prosser off the 2006-era Rough Trade UK website for a no-doubt exorbitant price. I was pre-convinced as to it’s worth by hearing a snippet of the track on RealPlayer (probably).

Pretty sure that specific iteration of the song was posted/shared/disseminated into the world by the then-London living Ben Swank. Even when he was over there, it was always a treat to have some sort of connection or correspondence or head’s-up from him. I think that trans-Atlantic keeping in touch still fuels our wonderful rapport to this day.

Anyway, you lose touch of things, don’t live in London and you’re out of the loop and they fall by the wayside. Come 2018 when I find out that Fitzro had put out a single back in 2010 that I had NEVER heard of.

The label had been silent since, but the indescribably striving for completeness had me yearning for this single by a band I’d never heard of.

Finnish psychedelic shoe gaze covering Bruce Springsteen? Sure. Sign me up.

There’s a built-in, “can do no wrong” element to the Boss classic “I’m On Fire.” The definition of indefatigable. I’ve heard dozens of versions in as many different styles and tempos, and they are always comforting. Two that stick out, at the moment, are the lazy atmospheric version by the Chromatics and the VERY hard to prove it exists live version that Six Organs of Admittance did.

And to that, the Joensuu version holds up, but i must say, the 10+ minute live stretch-out linked here ups the ante even more.

Flipside “Perfect Grace” is wonderfully acceptable. I’m hard pressed to pull from memory any other Finnish bands, but Wikipedia informs me that Leningard Cowboys, Laika and the Cosmonauts, Hanoi Rocks and HIM all hail from there. So…Joensuu is still the first Finnish band I’ve purposefully listened to.

While a good single, I’m pretty sure I’m the bozo who threw the median pricing out of whack on Discogs and paid $39 for it. Which is probably in line with what I paid for that “Killing Flaw” single back in 2006. And the beginning becomes the end and time (record) is a flat (black) circle.

PS. anyone who can provide me with ANY version of Six Organs doing “I’m On Fire” (bootleg mp3, youtube video, lathe-cut, whatever) I will reward handsomely with a TMR test pressing of moderate desirability.