Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.08.2008, Qupperneq 24

24 | REYKJAVÍK GRAPEVINE | ISSUE 10—2008
CONCERT REvIEW By By Ben H. Murray — pHoto By gaSCD REvIEWS
A Palestine benefit concert in Iceland – not an obvi-
ous event for a Thursday night at Organ, but who
cares when they mix and match some pretty decent
music with the sort of awkward harmony that’s sad-
ly missing from the aforementioned region.
Gunnar Jónsson started the evening of strange
bedfellows with a selection of tracks that highlight-
ed his impressive solo skills and warming voice,
including a cover of Neil Young’s ‘The Needle and
the Damage Done’. An odd choice considering its
opiate subject matter but memorable due to his pas-
sionate performance, a theme carried on by Númer
Núll, who impressed with their soaring Feeder-
esque riffs and a substantial amount of noodling
that Tom Morello would have cast a wry smile at.
As the evening progressed, the music got
heavier and heavier but this was almost perfectly
in tune with the audience; the crowd built and
levels of enthusiasm crept up from a rather stale
8pm start to a rowdy reception for three-piece
punk band Morðingjarnir. Their set sparkled with
humour, energy and blasts of metal that happily
defied the language barrier to leave everyone won-
dering what else the organisers could throw into
the musical mixing pot.
The evening, thus far, hadn’t seen much in-
volvement from the fairer sex but that in-balance
was more than redressed by another punk-influ-
enced trio, Viðurstyggð. Reminiscent, perhaps la-
zily so, of infamous female grunge band L7, they
performed a set that was both smile-inducing and
laced with acerbic musical wit, all backed by a
grinding bass/lead guitar duo. Viðurstyggð de-
scribe themselves as being ‘bitter girls’ but they
translate this into a far happier experience than
the description would suggest, despite their dense
Icelandic lyrics and low-fi nature.
They finished the evening with a slightly
angry-sounding number (perhaps influenced by
the political nature of the event) that was mostly
sung by their drummer, who perversely seemed
to be happiest person in the room. Who wants to
see Don Henley warbling away from behind a kit
when, all in the name of a good cause, you had
the beaming Helga doing something much more
interesting?
Middle East Musical Fest
viðurstyggð's bassist takes the Plocking seriously.
WHERE
Organ
WHEN
Thursday, July 10
WHO
Gunnar Jónsson, History
Sound, Númer Núll,
Morðingjarnir and
Viðurstyggð
THE vERDICT
An interesting night that
showcased some diverse
bands who aren't
selling thousands of re-
cords or headlining their
own tour, just yet
anyway.
THE vERDICT
More standard six shooter
than .44 magnum but still
useful in a fight.
THE vERDICT
Lively, dense instrumental
folk that bears little com-
parison to much else this
side of the Balkans. A fine
album once the individual
tracks become familiar..
With a name like a spaghetti Western and songs such as 'Drifter' and
'Hillbilly Purgatory', you'd imagine the Tommygun Preachers to come
across sonically like a posse of unwashed outlaws who found time to
make some good 'ol guitar music in-between jumping freight trains.
Instead, the album sits in a musical abyss between country rock
and punk but is still enjoyable. 'The Burning Hell Machine' is one of
the tracks where they come alive with a punk-infused riff and John
Lydon-influenced snarling vocal that you'd love to hear at 1am in a
sweaty club. Title track 'Jawbreaker' and 'Let's Go' follow a similar
theme but with a degree more anger and drive coming out in satisfy-
ing blasts. The album is sometimes formulaic and the vocals struggle
to stand out from the energetic compositions, such as in 'Incinerate',
but 'Jawbreaker’ has attitude, venom and some decent songs. It's just
a few killer tracks short of being really good and that's a shame.
Whilst Gogol Bordello seem to have the international monopoly on
high-energy folk, using what might be described as a cynical find-
a-niche-and-play-up-to-it approach, Stórsveit Nix Noltes have taken a
less obvious route with their debut album. They rely heavily on tradi-
tional Balkan folk music in its purest form with staccato scatterings
of brass matched by a strings and a rampant accordion layered over
the top of other instrumentation but present no vocals. The faster
numbers, which include 'Pajdusko' and, best of all, 'Kopanista', are
frenetic in the extreme and border on musical confusion, but just rein
back the tide of noise before it becomes too much for anyone outside
of a vodka-laden wedding party to comprehend. It’s a difficult record
to listen to as most will have few points of reference to help acquaint
themselves with the unique attitude the band convey but anyone who
takes the time with Royal Family Divorce will be richly rewarded.
ToMMyGun PrEacHErS
Jawbreaker
STórSvEIT nIx nolTES
Royal Family Divorce
reviewed By Ben H. Murray
reviewed By Ben H. Murray
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