Veps

Hailing from Oslo, Norway, indie outfit Veps deliver a confident, tuneful blend of pop and rock with a ’90s aesthetic reminiscent of acts like the Cardigans and Garbage. After winning label and touring interest with their 2021 debut EP, Veps made their full-length debut with the riff-strong Oslo Park the following year.
Veps singer/keyboardist Helena Mariero Olasveengen, singer/guitarist Laura Dodson, bassist/singer June Karine Urholt, and drummer Maja Beitrusten Berge all knew each other from their elementary school days in Oslo, but they first came together creatively to work on a short film in middle school. The film, Liv og Erle, won a festival award, and they were 14 years old when they began playing music together. Naming themselves Veps (Norwegian for “wasp”), the girls played a series of local D.I.Y. shows before they were even in high school. Not long after beginning their freshman year, they self-released two singles, leading to a record deal with Brooklyn-based Kanine Records. Kanine released Veps’ debut EP, Open the Door, in September 2021, when the members were 17. It brought their ’90s-inflected pop/rock to the attention of a broader audience, prompting a headlining tour of the U.K.
For their full-length debut, the burgeoning band enlisted the help of Spellemann Prize-winning producer Matias Tellez (girl in red, Sondre Lerche). A celebration of and goodbye to their teenaged years, the resulting Oslo Park arrived on Kanine Records in November of 2022. ~ Marcy Donelson