Reykjavík Grapevine - 05.08.2005, Side 38

Úlpa from Hafnarfjörður have been around since late 1999 and have
playing around with various styles and influences. Often have they
come up with some great ideas but not always have they managed
good enough songs from all of them. Their recent show demonstrated
that their new material is straighter forward (in a good way) and more
stripped down which suits them well.
Lights On The Highway consists of ex-members of bands like the extreme noise-core
band Klink, Bisund, Solid I.V. and stoner-rock band Brain Police, but they sound nothing
like those bands. Their sound world is more similar to the late Jeff Buckley, or, to some
extent, a mellow acoustic Alice In Chains. It’s so hard not to hear the vocal harmonies of
Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell, which isn’t at all a bad thing, but not too original. Their
sound is huge and this band is damn tight, but one still hopes they’ll move away from their
influences.
The Heavycoats from Baltimore (Maryland, USA) were described as a
softer and less gloomy Interpol and that pretty much says it all. This band
consists of five twenty and thirty something guys clad in black and with
stylised haircuts. The rocky walls of the gallery made the reverb guitars
sound a little bit too thin, almost painfully thin. This band should throw away
their Interpol records and focus more on their song-writing instead their
hairstyles.
Grey Filastine from Seattle (Washington, USA) is a politically active disc jockey/musician who
mixes together rhythms and sounds from hip-hop, electronica, dance hall, drum ‘n’ bass and
experimental noise. He’s to some extent similar to a guy who calls himself DJ Rupture (who has,
by the way, released almost every Filastine album). Grey has been around all South America and
has recorded chants from countries like Cuba and more, and he samples them into his eccentric
mix, which is really interesting. It’s a shame how few people witnessed this guy. Hopefully he’ll
be back and maybe play a proper show in a darker place.
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