Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.08.2008, Side 25

REYKJAVÍK GRAPEVINE | ISSUE 10—2008 | 25
Hjálmar knows how to stir it up with drum-bum-
ping moxie! The group best known for being the
leading proponents of Icelandic reggae, perfor-
med a surprisingly pumpin’, highly raucous live
set at NASA late Saturday night. Hjálmar cranked
the amplifier up to 11 during their performance
at NASA, in a departure from their smoother, me-
llower studio recordings, with a highly percussio-
nally-intense jamboree – a decidedly hard-rock
variation of their guitar-driven, Jamaican-derived
music with an especially aggressive, sometimes ja-
rring, slam-bam, drum-crash assault of raw energy
and occasional rapping mixed in.
The bespectacled lead vocalist, Þorsteinn
Einarsson, kicked the night off right with the
warm, slow jam intro of “Hljóðlega af stað” which
eventually wound itself into a spectacularly fier-
ce pulsating groove. Hjálmar’s organist, Sigurður
Guðmundsson, should be considered the group’s
MVP of the night and especially be given his props
as he pulled out all of the stops with a spirited
funk that he laid down through most of the songs.
Additionally, Guðmundsson must be given a hand
for his adeptness at echoic, reverberational dub
effects. On the other hand, the group’s drummer
was so eye-bogglingly fired up (how many cans of
Burn did he go through?!) through most of the set
that his frenetic drum crashes often sounded like a
long, harmonic carpet-bomb attack.
Performance-wise, Hjálmar was very much
an audience-participation enhanced experience,
especially with their passionately chipper fans.
The group enthusiastically led the crowd to sing
along and clap in unison with many of their an-
themic choruses. This worked particularly effec-
tively on the song “Leiðin okkar allra,” which I’ll
go out on a limb and call Hjálmar’s “Hey Jude.” It
was easily their best performance of the night and
a song to raise a lighter to.
Overall, a rollicking good time was had by
most of the crowd, at least, for the ones not too
drum-adverse.
Hjálmar Go Wicked on the Drums
iceland's reggae-kings show their Fans a good time once again
WHERE
NASA
WHEN
Saturday, July 12
WHO
Hjálmar
THE vERDICT
Slammin’ grooves with
good dub, though maybe
the drummer should take
it down a notch.
It was recently explained to me, when having dinner in a nice res-
taurant, that a ram's testicle is best eaten "when in season". I took
this to mean that the delicacy should be consumed when the ram
was about to embark on mission to impregnate anything that moves
over the next month, which would cause its balls to load up for the
"season". Then I imagined the most disgusting thing I could almost
possibly ever conceive: eating a ram's bollock, ("it's really tasty"),
and having its putrid organ enter my mouth and slide down my
throat like a perverted, rotten oyster. Unfortunately this wasn't quite
the most unpleasant thing my warped mind could think of as I'd
heard this album earlier in the day. Whilst 'When You Say You Love
Me' has something vaguely resembling opera liberally splashed, the
other tracks are mostly covers and trad songs (including a truly dire
Lionel Richie number and Charles Aznavour's 'She') which are un-
imaginatively produced and poor in execution.
The Grapevine gets a 'sleazy thanks' in the sleeve but we’ll not be in-
fluenced by such blatant arse kissing. Actually, no flattery is required
because Exile Republic is pretty good, offers of filth or not. The open-
ing blast of 'Credo' is pure LA rock. If Guns 'n' Roses bought a cute
rescue home dog which was subsequently run over with extreme
prejudice, then the resulting charity single would sound like the first
track. Mainly because it'd be a pretty angry song but also a tad less
precise in the marriage of riff and vocal due to their angst, a trait
followed by Atomstation. Listen on and the blitz of pounding guitar
and drums, such as those on 'Dramaoverdose' and the magnificent
'Bloodline', is an aggressively fun combination. Best on the album is
'Bugchasers' due to its mid-song breakdown and lyrics like "ugly dirty
motherfuckers/sleeping with infected hookers". Let's hope this isn't
the sleaze they're sending
corTES
When You Say You Love Me
aToMSTaTIon
Exile Republic
CONCERT REvIEW By jaMeS crugnale CD REvIEWS
reviewed By Ben H. Murray
reviewed By Ben H. Murray
THE vERDICT
Fancy voice but what a
syrupy, inane cover-laden
waste of time and plastic.
Do not buy it unless you
hate yourself, your neigh-
bours, your pets and your
family.
THE vERDICT
Ten tracks of unadulter-
ated, polished heavy rock
with enough soul and
humour to prevent it from
sounding even remotely
dull after a few dozen lis-
tens – a potential break-
through album.