Weird Music Wednesday: “Alright, Goodnight” by Nyos
Finnish duo get weird… and HEAVY!
The Finnish duo known as Nyos, comprised of guitarist Tom Brooke and drummer Tuomas Kainulainen, specializes in a brand of loop-driven math rock that feels massive enough to have its own gravity. On their latest offering, Growl, they manage to capture that rare lightning-in-a-bottle feeling where the music is incredibly complex and “mathy,” yet possesses the raw, barely contained energy suggested by the title.
Most tracks on the record follow a pattern of building tectonic layers of guitar loops until the tension becomes unbearable—it’s loud enough to rattle your teeth, yet repetitive enough to induce a trance state that makes you forget you’re listening to only two people.
The production on Growl is predictably monolithic. Nyos is adept at using loop stations to layer textures until the original melody is buried under a mountain of grit, and this album leans into that density.
While most of the album generally follows a trajectory of building tension through rhythmic loops, the final track “Alright, Goodnight” feels like the duo decided to dismantle the studio while the tape was still rolling. It is easily the weirdest moment on the record because it abandons the band’s usual sense of forward momentum in favor of a jittery, disjointed atmosphere that borders on the neurotic. Where other tracks on Growl eventually lock into a groove that allows the listener to nod along, “Alright, Goodnight” feels like a conversation between two people who are speaking different languages but are both shouting. It serves as a jarring palette cleanser—or perhaps a digital breakdown—that proves Nyos is just as comfortable with sonic chaos as they are with their signature mechanical precision.
Side Note: As a drummer of 40+ years I have an unenviable condition where the rhythms running constantly in my head often leak out via my fingers, feel, hands, or mouth. This is sure to annoy nearly everybody you might be in close enough proximity to hear. Usually, this is something I can control enough to get by, but my wife has had to suffer on many an occasion where I was not up to the task of keeping a lid on it. I have tried to explain the situation but I think this song (and the record in general, really) does a fantastic job providing a somewhat accurate illustration of how my affliction manifests inside my head.
The Song
Spotify:
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/song/alright-goodnight/1828728524
The Album
Spotify:
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/growl/1828727855