Reykjavík Grapevine - 03.12.2004, Page 36

reviews
HOFFMAN
BAD SEEDS
On this compilation, 18 Icelandic artists come together
to raise money for the young people of Balata, one of
the most densely populated refugee camps in Palestine.
The album starts off with a song from well respected
troubadour, KK, before making a u-turn with Vinyl. It
seems the band has forever been on the brink of making
it to the big leagues but somehow I don’t think songs
like the one featured here will take them there. The same
can be said about Tenderfoot who, despite having a lot
of the right ingredients, struggle a bit to find their own
voice to seperate them from the artists they’re emulating.
Ske however, manage to use diffirent influences to their
advantage and end up with a track that sounds like a
lively cross between The Flaming Lips, Belle & Sebastian
and Madness’ hit single ‘Michael Caine’.
The fifth track is a collaboration between the criminally
non-prolific Delphi and a young singer called Lára. Her
soft & sweet vocals blend well together with the bands
trip-hop meanderings so the combination definitely
shows promise although it could easily go either way.
Next up are Quarashi, who need little introduction and
deliver pretty much what you would expect from them.
Ensími on the other hand take the listener by some
surprise, opting for a warm country-esque ballad instead
of their usual new-wave rock.
The attention then turns to Ghostigital, a predictably
zany collaboration between ex-Sugarcube Einar Örn and
multi-artist Bibbi Curver. After their little moment of
madness, the relatively unknown Santiago and Touch
offer two of the album’s most straight-forward pop-
songs but both fail to really impress. Santiago seem to be
caught in two minds between being an alt-country band
or an out and out pop-group while Touch will hardly win
many people over if they continue along these sugary-
coated lines.
The ever so cute múm are, without a doubt, one of the
most critically acclaimed bands ever to come out of
Iceland and rightly so, even though I don’t think they’ve
ever been able to recapture the magic of their debut.
Unfortunately the bands seems to be running out of
ideas and their song ‘Once a Shiny Morning Puddle’
(originally the b-side to ‘Nightly Cares’) leaves the
listener wanting. To toughen things up XXX Rotweiler
then come howling back after a two year hiatus and even
though the hype has died down, the hip-hop outfit not
only sounds as sharp as ever but also more mature. They
are then followed by another band that’s been largely
anonymous of late, Leaves, but as they only offer a
previously released song it’s hard to tell whether they’re
on the right course or still stuck in the muddy tracks of
brit-pop. In contrast, 200.000 Naglbítar have a truly
distinctive Icelandic sound and are highly regarded on
these shores for their catchy 3 minute pop/rock songs. To
be honest, I’ve never been quite able to understand why
and the overly dramatic title track of their latest album
does little to change my mind.
Worm is Green has focused mainly on the international
market and been rewarded with some rave reviews,
especially for their cover of the Joy Divisions’ ‘Love Will
Tear Us Apart’. Their haunting contribution also sets a
nice standard for any upcoming releases. Bob Justman
also shows great promise and I for one am eagerly
anticipating the debut album from this moniker of
Kristinn Gunnar Blöndal (Ensími and ex-Botnleðja), to
be released soon on Moshi Moshi Music. I saw Justman
perform live a couple of weeks ago and although he
doesn’t quite recapture the emotions on show there, his
song is without a doubt one of the album’s highlights.
His sad ballad is then followed by a more upbeat (hence
it’s title) song from Gus Gus which probably works a lot
better in a dance club than in my home stereo.
An unreleased song from the man with the Midas
touch, Mugison, then wraps everything up in a friendly
fashion so at least the album ends on a good note. As
compilation go, ‘Frjáls Palestína’ is a decent one but
the stop-start nature of the tracklisting keeps it from
ever flowing properly. There are some very nice touches
but all in all it can be summed up as an album of good
intentions rather than sheer quality.
For listeners of local rock station, X-ið
9.77, the name Hoffman might ring
a bell as two of the bands songs have
been featured on its playlist in recent
weeks. Both can be found on ‘Bad
Seeds’ as well as four brand new songs
from the latest rock group to come out
of the Westman Islands, just outside
of the mainland’s south-coast...Come
to think of it, I cannot recall any
notable predecessors from the islands,
best known for the volcanic eruption
in 1973 and of course Keikó (sorry, I
won’t mention him again). Hoffman may that even if it doesn’t quite come
off for them on their debut, though certainly not for lack of trying. This solid
six-piece has the potential to go on leaps and bounds and with the first record
out of the way, quick progress could well be just around the corner.
The members of Hoffman have referred to their music as acid-rock and all in
all it’s a pretty accurate description. There are hints of grunge as well as post-
punk and the swirling give the songs a nice 70’s feel. Musicians and vocalist
alike handle their duties with ease and the overall quality of the recording is
quite good, but it’s in the songwriting department alone where Hoffman fall
short, they lack the character which seperates good bands from the average
ones.
In all fairness, it is probably expecting too much from a band, releasing it’s
first ep to have instantly found it’s own voice so the jury is still very much out
on Hoffman. After laying down the foundations, the band will need to work
hard to build on them before making a real mark on the music scene. Watch
this space... by Árni Viðar
When you slip the lyrics “but your bad sense of humour and your laughter’s
like a tumour to my brain,” into a song you deserve to sell a couple albums
(and probably a kick to the groin too). On his debut album, “I believe in this,”
Þórir has penned more than a few priceless zingers using the scarred wit of
that loneliest of individuals: the literate teenager. Having seen reactions to his
live shows, I am sure this album will find an audience.
“I believe in this,” does have its flaws, though. The stunner for me is the vocal
stylings: Þórir performs most of the album in nervous staccato mutters. Live,
this has been charming. But to hear it recorded, it sounds affected. Especially
as through the whole album, one notices he has a significant range and decent
strength in his voice, most pronounced in the middle registers. Look, we
know the kid can play guitar and write songs, so the coy delivery sounds like
a mistake.
This brings us to the most fantastically bad idea of the album: a cover of
Outkast’s “Hey Ya” sung in nervous breakdown drone. When performed live,
I attributed this to a one-time error in judgement. The cover saps the energy
from the song, at the same time hinting at the shtick that perhaps all the
work on the album is only important because it is whined, that maybe if we
just listened to pop music we’d get more of our money’s worth.
Despite these errors, (and if you’re a collector of first albums, maybe
because of them), “I believe in this” is worth the mortgage you have to take
out to buy an Icelandic cd. Þórir places himself strongly in the tradition of
the great college indie music of the last decade: the rhymes and the tone
are reminiscent of Eliot Smith, Pedro the Lion, and, most obviously, Isaac
Brooks of Modest Mouse. (Whether the naming of the song “This is a long
drive for someone with to (sic) much to think about” crosses the line from
homage to plagiarism of Modest Mouse’s masterpiece “This is a long drive
for someone with nothing to think about” is open to debate.)
However, and this points to Þórir’s future, the most marked difference
between this young Icelandic songwriter and his influences is that he seems to
have greater training or skill in playing guitar and picking out vocal melodies.
When he relaxes and sings them, he may lose some indie cred, but his
music will sound a good deal more authentic. by Bart Cameron
ÞÓRIR
I BELIVE IN THIS
COMPILATION : VARIOUS ARTISTS
FRJÁLS PALESTÍNA
by Árni Viðar
A Wunderkind, Pimples and All
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