VEPS

Kanine Records

Ever since they arrived on the Norwegian indie scene at age 17, the Oslo-based four-piece Veps has released a steady stream of jaw droppingly mature, indie pop gems. Now, as they are all in their final teenage year, Veps announces their debut album Oslo Park for November 18^th release on Kanine Records. Continuing to dish out indie pop bangers with a carefree, DIY attitude, Oslo Park is Veps at their most dynamic.

Helena M. Olasveengen (vocals/keys), Laura Dodson (vocals/guitar), June K. Urholt (bass and lead vocals on “The Credits”), and Maja B. Berge (drums) have all grown up in Oslo, the Norwegian capital. They’ve known each other since elementary school but began playing music together at age 14, though originally forming to create a short film project in junior high school. The film, titled “Liv Og Erle” was about friendship, love and jealousy, and it even won an award at a leading Norwegian film festival. A sign of things to come, for sure.

After forming Veps (the Norwegian word for “wasp”), a series of DIY shows followed in and around Oslo. Not long after starting high school, the band self-released two singles and shortly thereafter hooked up with Brooklyn indie Kanine Records, which released their debut EP, “Open the Door” in 2021.  The Forty Five said, “The Oslo four-piece are making indie bangers worth taking note of.” 2022 has so far been eventful for Veps, with highlights including the band’s first ever headline UK tour, which included a BBC6 Artist of the Week Spotlight, as well as playing a host of festivals both abroad and in Norway.

The four members that make up Veps are all distinctly different personalities, but as in their lives as slightly unlikely friends, the creative process is very much a collaborative effort. Every song they write is a unified effort to surpass their previous work, with all the four members bringing their distinct taste and sensibilities to the table. With songwriting skills beyond their years, Veps seamlessly blends a 90s indie aesthetic with classic pop hooks, into their own, fully formed sound. It’s not hard to see why Veps has become a buzz band both within and outside the borders of their native Norway

Produced by fellow Norwegian Matias Tellez (Girl in Red, Sondre Lerche), Oslo Park is an emotional, fun ride through adolescence. Feisty rocker “His Brother” evokes the spirit of the alternative rock scene of the early 1990s, before the minor key gem “Crawl” breaks your heart with its honest depiction of teenage heartbreak. The gorgeous ballads “Ballerina (Norah)” and “To the Bedwetters” are both, in their unique way, an instant emotional time capsule to the melancholy and vulnerable aspects of being young and searching for your identity.

If their EP, Open the Door, was described by the band as a “love letter to our teenage years,” this album, raw, emotional, beautiful and melodic, is more of a goodbye, perhaps.

• The Other Side of the Door
• Mooney Tunes
• UFO
• A Show of Hands
• His Brother
• Crawl
• Ballerina (Norah)
• To the Bedwetters
• The Credits