Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.02.2006, Blaðsíða 34
Grapevin
e Singles
Reviews
Helvítis
Útlending
ur
NILFISK
Sometimes (In The Summer)
Equal to:
Chocolate-Covered Raisins
Although the album that contains it is disap-
pointing and lacklustre, Sometimes neatly
sums up Nilfisk’s qualities with its tight, racing
drums and straightforward, yet intricate, inter-
twining guitars soaring into a lengthy instru-
mental section, and the quirky, off-kilter, not-
quite-grammatically-correct lyrics are nothing
short of beautiful in their simple, heartfelt and
delicate clichés.
Ceterum censeo, Sometimes is like a
chocolate-covered raisin: A sweet, amiable
and kind of sappy mixture of flavours that in
spite of its obvious faults, is almost impossible
to hate, especially when accompanied by a
totally pointless movie about teenagers going
to school, being lonely and watching other
teenagers from the backs of a classrooms with
awestruck expressions on their faces. SE
MINUSBARÐI
Don’t Hold Back
Equal to:
Nizza
Minusbarði was, to many people, the worst
idea ever: Barði Jóhannsson of neo-romantic
club composer Bang Gang playing with metal
punk rockers Mínus. But as it turned out,
they made a decent album, with a standout
single, Don’t Hold Back. An homage to Kiss,
this track outshone its influences. The candy
equivalent would be Nizza, an outstanding
local candy that combines good chocolate and
liquorice into a divine treat. BC
AMPOP
My Delusions
Equal to:
Hrísur
Ampop’s third album was not appreciated by
the Grapevine’s reviewer, but the single, the
most downloaded song of 2005 from tonlist.is,
has to be acknowledged. Light and airy, with
keyboards coming in to save a thin melody line,
the sweet but almost substantive lyrics made
this a solid single. Candy equivalent would be
Hrísur, the light but substantive candy bar that
almost feels like a meal. BC
Daniel Ágúst
If You Leave Me Now
Equal to:
Tromp
The front man from Gus Gus has an out-
sized personality that, when combined with a
somewhat empty album, overshadowed this
delicate single. But if you can get hold of If
You Leave Me Now, and you listen to it, you’ll
find something unique, addictive and satisfy-
ing. Equivalent: Tromp, a colourful and tasty
Icelandic candy, often sold in very short mini
candy bars. BC
SINGAPORE SLING
Song for the Dead
Equal to:
Hockey Pölver
An interesting but perhaps badly timed change
of approach for Singapore Sling is announced
in Song for the Dead’s opening moments when
the beat is set by a distinctly synthetic-sound-
ing drum machine. And just when the buzzing,
off-key guitars have you fooled into thinking
they’re only using a drum machine because
they couldn’t find a drummer, the melodic la-
la-las of the chorus show off the Sling’s most
ambitious attempt at traditional musicianship
yet. The entire song is brisk, uncomplicated
and potent, while still not losing any of the
drug-fuelled vacancy of Singapore Sling’s
earlier successes.
Its off-putting and vaguely disturbing
flavour grows on you in an addictive manner
not dissimilar to Hockey Pölver, a vulgarly un-
wholesome flavoured sugar sold in plastic tins.
The blatant irresponsibility of its makers recalls
a bygone era, and while it has no substance
whatsoever, it somehow satisfies like nothing
else. Whatever you do, though, never have too
much of it. SE
Guide to the ratings system
The Reykjavík Grapevine has dedicated a section in every paper since March 2005
to album reviews, ignoring a key aspect of the Icelandic music scene, and of music
in the age of iTunes: singles. We typically review albums according to what they’d
be worth in beer; for singles, we have decided to equate them more with candy,
another local indulgence. By Bart Cameron and Sindri Eldon
ARCTIC MONKEYS
I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor
Equal to:
Gum on a Log
If you thought Franz Ferdinand was too smart
and not derivative enough, check out pop’s
new low, Arctic Monkeys, celebrated by the
Icelandic and British media, and some of
America’s mainstream. The best song off an
album of neutered riffs and retarded sound
bite quips is the first single, I Bet You Look
Good on the Dancefloor (one word, get it,
it’s poetic.) Apparently, playing straight from
your beginner guitar book with enthusiastic
utterances of “I want to see the things I’ve seen
before” is the new Shakespeare. After reading
a third four-star review in a local publication,
the Grapevine did a scientific study: we played
Arctic Monkeys for ten music fans with no
introduction at all—in all ten cases, we were
told to push stop less than one minute into the
first track. (In an 11th case, with a man who
claimed he met the Arctic Monkeys at a club
in Glasgow and loved them, the CD played
for 30 seconds before this Arctic Monkey
buddy begged for it to be stopped.) The candy
comparison: take a stick of gum, chew it, swal-
low it, wait a day, and there you have Arctic
Monkeys. BC
These singles can be found on www.itunes.com, www.napster.com,
www.smekkleysa.is, www.tonlist.is or www.icelandairwaves.com.
34
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