Q&A: Loki’s Folly Makes an Unforgettable, Loud, First Impression With ‘Sisu’
DEBUT ALBUMS ARE NO JOKE — it’s an artist's introduction to the world, oftentimes with songs that have been labored over for years before being put to tape. Reaching the point where you’re confident enough to make that initial statement can take decades. Minneapolis-based band Loki’s Folly, composed of three siblings, Annie (age 21), Nissa (16), and Oskar (11), have been working on music for over half of their lives. They defy any gimmick or preconceived notion about age or experience and instead make undisputedly loud, straight-up punk music in their confident first album, Sisu.
The album starts loud and fast and stays there throughout its duration. In under two minutes, “The Love Song” makes the group’s MO immediately clear with pounding drums, a melodic cacophony of distorted guitar, and urgent, hyper vocals that scream. The rest of Sisu sticks to this winning structure with brief, hard-hitting songs. Annie and Nissa’s vocals are similar to Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna or the primal yells of Yoko Ono. Their lyrics are both whimsical and confrontational, with blatant joy peppered in.
Delightful irony is showcased on “Hiding in Plain Sight,” which has a main riff reminiscent of Weezer, yet the lyrics suggest a dark inspiration. “Poison Heart” begins with rip-roaring guitar and thumping drums that sound like they’re coming from the biggest kit in the world. Vocals combine with instrumentation throughout the verses in a mix that sounds live. No matter where you listen, it’s impossible not to be transported to a packed bar with that sour-spilled booze smell and highwire energy.
Sisu features collaborations from other legends of the Minneapolis scene, including a guitar contribution from Soul Asylum’s Dave Pirner on “Appease the Girl” and production work from frequent collaborators of The Replacements (one of the group’s favorite bands), Kevin Bowe, and the late Ed Ackerson, along with a murder’s row of other production talents.
In our interview, their excitement was contagious. Talking to them, I saw a band fully ready to invite the rest of the world into the art they’ve been developing. Other groups might get caught up in the perceived big stakes, but Loki’s Folly is just doing what’s natural — and rocks.
Read below as Luna talks to the siblings about the band’s origins, the importance of live shows, and Ted Bundy.
LUNA: First off, what do you guys listen to normally?
ANNIE: A lot of local [artists] — probably The Replacements, Soul Asylum, Babes in Toyland. All those guys.
NISSA: I think we have a bit of an eclectic mix. Oskar really likes Cat Stevens.
ANNIE: You've been listening to a lot of Kate Bush.
LUNA: It sounds like you mostly like listening to a lot of punk — that pretty clearly influences your sound.
ANNIE: Yeah. But pulling from other things sometimes.
LUNA: In “Peaches and Beaches,” I like the breakdown — you guys use some really interesting instruments. It's really whimsical.
ANNIE: Yeah, I think we got a slide whistle in there.
LUNA: That's so funny. How long have you been working on these songs?
ANNIE: I think we started writing probably when I was, like, 14 or 15. So you [Nissa] would have been?
NISSA: Like, 9 to 10? (Laughs)
LUNA: Wow, that's insane. How were you so sure at such a young age that you wanted to be making music in a band?
ANNIE: Well, we kind of both just have this really strong urge to learn an instrument, to be in a band, and when we were both doing that, I was kind of like, well–
NISSA: May as well go together.
ANNIE: May as well do it, the two of us, and we're the band. It kind of just–
NISSA: Happened.
ANNIE: We started learning cover songs, and then it was like, if we want to keep playing, we should start writing songs, so … okay, let's learn how to write songs. And we kept going.
LUNA: How was bringing in outside producers to work on Sisu? Was that a challenge?
ANNIE: It went really well. I think everyone we worked with was doing their best to get our vision as [close to how] we wanted it to be and just really helped us achieve that goal. So getting to work with a lot of really awesome, supportive people who probably… I mean, not probably, who do know better. If we say, “O, I want it to sound kind of like this,” they can be like, “Okay, this is how you actually, tangibly can do that, and let's all do this together,” which was really awesome to be in such a supportive environment.
LUNA: The mixing on this record is so loud and distorted — it sounds like a live show. Were you trying to capture that live energy in-studio?
ANNIE: We definitely were. We recorded the songs live with two of us playing at the same time.
NISSA: A lot of them [were recorded] in one day. So it was going like [we were] playing a live set, but doing it a couple of times.
LUNA: How long have y'all been performing live?
ANNIE: Our first-ever show was on my 16th birthday. So you [Nissa] would have been 11. Five years ago.
LUNA: You've been playing at lots of venues around town?
ANNIE: Around here, and we went on tour with Shellac back in March 2020. That was just such an amazing experience. I think playing live is probably one of the best things about being in this band.
LUNA: Did you make any discoveries about yourselves as a band, or as individuals, during the recording process?
ANNIE: Since we started fairly young recording this, I think our general lives have changed a lot. I graduated high school in between there and…
NISSA: …I started high school (laughs).
ANNIE: You joined the band during the recording process. You, sir [to Oskar].
LUNA: Yeah, a lot of milestones.
ANNIE: Overall, our lives have changed a lot around this album. It's been something that we've got to work on through all those periods of our lives, which is really awesome.
LUNA: Since the band formed so naturally, were you always so intentional with wanting to do an album next? How did that kind of come together?
ANNIE: It was mostly dreaming and then the dreaming became reality. So you know, [with] that idea that we want to do an album, [we said,] let's try to find any opportunity we can, to get to make that a reality. And let's keep playing shows until we get this opportunity and keep doing this until we get that opportunity. Just trying to have fun in the process and not be too focused on, like, “Well, I have to get to this point.” I mean, it all is so much fun, and the whole process of getting to being able to put a record out has been just so rewarding and so much fun.
LUNA: Did you feel a little bit of pressure with releasing your debut?
ANNIE: Since we've kind of been working on it for so long–
NISSA: I feel like mostly just excited to get it out there.
LUNA: Do you guys have any ideas for the visual components to the music?
ANNIE: We've got a few videos out, and we're gonna be putting another video out for “Beaches and Peaches” going along with the album release.
NISSA: We like to go for pretty intense visuals for live shows, too. Funny costumes and stuff like that.
LUNA: What does a live show look like normally?
ANNIE: For costumes, one of my favorite[s] was the big tutu outfits we did at one of our release shows for a single.
NISSA: We like to thrift. We like to have some sort of theme for our outfits. We did [the] ’60s once.
LUNA: What does the album’s title mean?
ANNIE: Sisu is a Finnish word, and it's this concept of your perseverance or your ability to push through your grit or tenacity. It's a concept that we've been familiar with since being kids, since we are Finish. The word just kind of came up in a post-pandemic setting where it felt like the whole world kind of went through a lot and it took a lot of sisu to get to … where things are now, and I think the album kind of went through that too. We’ve had a lot of time to work on it, and it's gone through a lot of very good things. But it's been a long time getting it going, and it's so exciting to put it out and have it.
LUNA: I like “Hiding in Plain Sight.” It's kind of island-y, [with] the guitar in that. It's fun.
ANNIE: Thank you. I think that one was after we watched the Ted Bundy documentary.
LUNA: (Laughs) Is that what it’s about?
ANNIE: That was kind of the inspiration, and kind of just like… I kind of freaked me out the whole concept, naturally, about someone being so socially–
NISSA: Adept…
ANNIE: And well-liked, then also murdering people, and that whole concept of people having two sides to them and that unnerving feeling of “What if? Who else could be a Ted Bundy?”
LUNA: What about the lyrics overall? Who primarily writes them?
ANNIE: It's usually a group effort. One of us will start and then we'll bring it to each other and it evolves a lot from there. It's like, “Oh, I'm kind of going for this idea.” How do you think I could actually get that to work with words? And then building the song — each of us working on our own instruments to make it how we want it to sound.
LUNA: What do you think comes first normally, lyrics or the music? Or both at once?
ANNIE: It kind of depends on the song.
NISSA: I feel like a lot of the time, it's lyrics.
ANNIE: Some of them are second, right? I think “Truth or Dare” was second. I think it's fun to change it up. Because I think–
NISSA: There's more scope for creativity.
ANNIE: Conceptually, it'll go different ways, depending on which one we start first. If we have to be creative with how to get the music to match up with the words, or if we have to get creative with how the words match up with music.
LUNA: It's funny how the first song is called “The Love Song” and then the chorus is you saying “I hate you,” so many times.
ANNIE: That's pretty funny.
LUNA: How did you decide to open the album with that song?
ANNIE: That's how we opened our shows. We always start with that because it's the perfect example of what we’re gonna be playing. Get ready for it.
NISSA: I think that one was one that you wrote pretty much all in one go. And then we pretty much wrote the rest almost all in one go.
LUNA: What’s next? Are you guys writing more?
ANNIE: We're definitely writing more. You know, getting ready for the next album and excited to get this one out and be able to actually share it with people and get to really connect it with all the people that we would want it to get to.
LUNA: How would you describe Loki’s Folly in one word?
NISSA: Proud.
ANNIE: Can I make it two?
LUNA: Yeah.
ANNIE: I'm gonna seal the one that the other guys had said: chaotic-good. With the dash — it’s one word.
LUNA: I’ll make sure to hyphenate it for sure!
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