Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.10.2008, Blaðsíða 17

Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.10.2008, Blaðsíða 17
REYKJAVÍK GRAPEVINE | ISSUE 16—2008 | 17 As capitalist society as we know it collapsed, as ways of life and modes of thought became ins- tantly outdated, I found myself standing in the middle of Kaffibarinn, humming along to Skátar. And what a way to celebrate the end of that life sucking era of caviar-munching lightweights and their oversized fucking cars. A huge grin on my face, I was mesmerised by their skronky delight and complex rhythms, the blood curdling presen- ce of frontman Markús and the sheer fucking de- light of witnessing all those well-rehearsed spurts of creativity. My ears bled, and I was thankful for it. We all bleed. That will never change. As guitarist Benni stumbled through yet another of his non-solos, a thought came to mind: even if Iceland devolves back to a semi-Third World country whose residents feed on boiled haddock and potatoes in-between stints of actual physical work for a living, this place will still be pretty awesome. Because we’ve already imported most of everything we need. So many guitars to bang on, so many drumkits to strum, keyboards, saxophones, tambourines, and all these aweso- me people to do so – not to mention refined ways of distilling all sorts of juicy alcohol – we will be able to keep the party going for a long time still. I missed all of closing band Sykur (had to go home to read angry blogs about the economy) and most of opening band Sudden Weather Chan- ge (was home reading angry blogs about eco- nomy). I’ve seen SWC a bunch of times by now and have always left impressed by their spirit as well as their songs (those two don’t always mix). Judging by what I heard from the back of Kaffiba- rinn that night, they are still going strong. I look forward to listening to their début while reading desperate blogs about the economy. I made my way to the front for Skátar. I sto- od there gaping for all of their set, only pausing briefly to jot down my cool realisation that no matter where the complete collapse of capitalism takes us, life will never suck as long as we have 1) A room, 2) people to fill it, 3) some instruments, 4) folks as unabashedly creative, disciplined and joyful as Skátar to play ‘em, 5) beer. Life Will Never Suck Kolli roCKing tHe tYPiCal sKÁtar looK Who Skátar, Sudden Weather Change, Sykur WhERE Kaffibarinn WhEN Thursday, October 2 ThE vERDICT Life is good! CoNCERT REvIEW BY fLoRIAn züHLKe — pHoTo BY gAS Laugavegi 36 Tel: 551 3524 Open Mon. - Fri 7.30 - 18.15. Saturday 7.30 -17.30. Sunday 8.30-17.00. Luxury Surprise from Ásgeir Sandholt As plain as the decent black artwork is, the music on this self-titled debut “Esja” contains dusty rock-music that you would expect more in the deserts of southern California than in the northern frostiness of Iceland. This album in its best moments combines the darkness of the Stone Temple Pilots with the nonchalance of old country he- roes like Tom Petty. Unfortunately the quartet cannot keep up the enormous thrill of songs like “Wind Machine”, “Hit it” or the pensive “Sound on Sound” through the whole record. The vocals are often just too simple and unimaginative. This is even more of a pity, be- cause Daniel's voice is actually perfect for Esja's music. The songs “Till the end” or “Don't Know Anything” also disappoint for their dull song writing. However the good moments prevail, which makes this a successful debut in the end. Shogun approaches hardcore from the metal side, as you can tell by the choice of metal band T-Shirts that the fivesome from Reykjavík are wearing for the promo photo: Norma Jean, Devil Wears Prada. These are perfect examples of the direction Shogun is heading. “Charm City” has everything you would connect to a Ferret or Tooth&Nail band: ultra-heavy mosh-breakdowns, 80s metal guitar-licks, sweet emo-vocals and growls from the darkest depths. Actually Shogun has done quite a job here, the songs are diversified and crisp, and the performance and the production are both very professional. The big catch is that Shogun do not really come up with new ideas. That is why “Charm City” is a good summary of the genre in the end – and will therefore definitely find an audience – but lacks it's own memo- rable character. ESjA Esja ShoGuN Charm City CD REvIEWS RevIeweD BY fLoRIAn züHLKe RevIeweD BY MARcuS wALSH ThE vERDICT Convincing debut between classic rock and country lISTEN www.myspace.com/ esja ThE vERDICT Heavy metalcore in the vein of Atreyu, Devil Wears Prada or As I lay Dying lISTEN www.myspace.com/ shogunice

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