Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.10.2008, Side 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tantly outdated, I found myself standing in the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