With all the sleaze, sneers, and headbanging, Shiraz Lane resurrected that debauched Los Angeles sound while also paying homage to darker ’90s influences like Alice in Chains. The group was formed in 2011 in Vantaa by vocalist Hannes Kett and drummer Ana Vilkkumaa, later adding guitarists Miki Kalske and Jani Laine, as well as bassist Joel Alex. Their blazing riffs and soaring vocals immediately brought to mind classic rock bands of the ’80s, like Skid Row and Guns ‘N Roses. In 2014, they won the Hard Rock Rising competition in Helsinki. 

Buoyed by increasing exposure, they released their debut single “Out There Somewhere” b/w “Money Talks” later that year. Those songs would later appear on their first EP, Be the Slave or Be the Change, a five-song set that dropped in the spring of 2015, and the band exploded on the scene like a Zeus-like thunderbolt. Hungry, driven, and extremely young, the band instantly caught the attention of record labels and music aficionados alike – and hasn’t looked back since.  

Both toned down and grown up since their explosive and very metal EP the zany fivesome has found an appealing way to meld the sound of their heroes with their uniquely bubbly positivity and laced everything with their uncanny knack for catchy melodies. A cohesive creative collective with a disarming daydreamer mentality, the band has a very un-Finnish sunny disposition which has a way of rubbing off on the listeners – both on record and especially live.  

After signing with Italian hard rock hotbed Frontiers Records, their debut album For Crying Out Loud was released in April 2016. Both more mature and confident, its follow-up Carnival Days dropped in 2018. 

Spearheads of modern melodic rock with just the perfect touch of throwback ingredients, unflappable sort of happy swagger, and a lovely trait for special artsiness, Shiraz Lane are the Volkswagen hippie van of melodic rock – the most fun and inclusive band you can ever hope to find.