Finnish electronic music legends Op:l Bastards’ cult classic album The Job remastered and reissued with previously unreleased material in December

Op:l Bastards, the mythical legends of Finnish electronic music, are finally getting the reissue they deserve. The band’s seminal 2001 album The Job is being re-released in deluxe double-LP and CD editions, as well as digitally. The release is a collaboration between Svart Records and Timo Kaukolampi’s Öm Sound.

During their first, brief four-year career, Op:l Bastards left a deep and lasting mark on the international electronic music scene. Now, these remastered tracks from the original DAT tapes are joined by five previously unreleased tracks, of which Everyday Love is out now on Svart’s YouTube channel. Listen to the track HERE

The music and visual world created by Op:l Bastards can be viewed through the lens of cultural critic Mark Fisher’s idea: “To be in the twenty-first century is to have twentieth-century culture on high-definition screens.” The band’s playful retrofuturism emerged from the sharp rhythms of Detroit electronica, the attitude of 1980s New York punk disco, and Spacemen 3 -style hypnotic guitar drones. It is a genre-defying, timeless monument to an era when the future still sounded like something entirely new.

The 2000s ultimately brought nothing comparable to Finnish or international electronic music – there was never another Op:l Bastards. Despite this, this music, created 25 years ago, still sounds bewilderingly fresh, fun and utterly futuristic. It has withstood the ravages of time exceptionally well and resonates with new generations just as powerfully as it did upon its release.

Op:l Bastards played the final gig of their first era at the Koneisto Festival in 2002. Although the band went quiet, several significant branches of the Finnish music scene sprang from its ashes. Timo Kaukolampi went on to work on material for the Norwegian pop artist Annie, amongst others. Vilunki 3000 founded the band Uusi Fantasia together with DJ PP. Kaukolampi and Vilunki were also active members of the cult band Larry And The Lefthanded. Meanwhile, the band’s third key member Tuomo Puranen joined Jimi Tenor’s band and was also involved in producing Brandi Ifgray’s album Stargazer, which was released at the time by the legendary Sähkö Recordings.

Between 2007 and 2009, Op:l Bastards made a brief comeback with a handful of gigs and their sophomore album II, until the foundations for a new era’s landmark K-X-P took shape and its debut album saw the light of day in 2010. Kaukolampi and Puranen have also continued their collaboration in the field of film music. In addition to graphic design, Vilunki 3000 has been an active solo music artist and a sought-after DJ.

The release of The Job will be celebrated at the G Livelab club in Helsinki on Saturday 19 December 2026, when Timo Kaukolampi, Tuomo Puranen and Vilunki 3000 will each be performing their own solo set. Op:l Bastards’ The Job is due for release on 4 December 2026 and is now available for pre-order in various formats from the Svart Records online shop.