Reykjavík Grapevine - 16.08.2013, Blaðsíða 30

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Grísalappalísa’s album release concert at Faktorý
All The Rage
by Adrienne Blaine
The lack of females was surprising since vocalists
Gunnar Ragnarsson and Baldur Baldursson are
regulation Icelandic hotties. But don’t let the sweet-
faced baby photo on the cover of Grísalappalísa’s
‘ALI’ album fool you; this is angry music.
As the sound began to swell, I realised that just
as females often berate males to share their feel-
ings but turn heel as soon as they unleash their
inner demons, there are few women who toler-
ate angsty discordant shouting about some chick
named Lísa. Luckily for the all-male band, a few fe-
male attendees were clearly willing to sooth their
masculine woes.
The primal shouts and percussion started raging
and a wave of caveman energy surged through the
crowd, polished by the ‘80s style backing featuring
a nonchalant saxophone. Young men pulsed to the
beat, as if it were their lifeblood.
Even to a non-native speaker it was obvious
the Icelandic lyrics spoke to these men on a deep
emotional level or at least a deeply drunken one.
Chants of “Grísa! Lappa! Lísa!” rose up periodically
and whipped the crowd into a testosterone-fuelled
frenzy.
At one point a man stuck his hand into the speak-
ers in an attempt to connect with the music quite
literally. He wore a pimp style fur coat and a fedora.
When he wasn’t sloshing his gin and tonics over his
neighbours he held up a burning joint to the band
like a ritualistic offering.
A bare-chested man held his torn shirt in his
hands and thrashed to the music, while Gunnar and
Baldur looked crisp in contrasting black and white
ensembles: white tuxedo shirt and skinny jeans ver-
sus black sparkles and suspenders. Grísalappalísa
consists of effortlessly stylish men, emanating
equal parts rage and charisma.
In between jumping up and down and sneering
on stage, Gunnar would enter the crowd, which
rush to meet him. His style as a front man was more
jovially insane than Baldur, who brooded darkly in
the background. The two represent a nuanced yin
and yang of apathy and conviction reflected in the
music.
The songs blended well from one to the next and
when I wasn’t edging away from the mini-mosh pit
or the half-hearted crowd surfers, it was easy to
embrace the orchestrated chaos. The concert end-
ed with a defiant feedback loop that lost its effect
when the band obligingly returned to the stage for a
final bow at the crowd’s behest.
Although I could not personally reap the group
therapy rewards of affirming my own masculine cri-
sis, the Grísalappalísa experience is one I will not
soon forget. Playfully transgressive and aggressive,
Grísalappalísa live is all the rage.
Emerging upstairs at Faktorý for the Grísalappalísa album release concert
was like entering a man cave: hazy lights, musky smells and low growls
issued from the front of the room. The scene was overwhelmingly male.
30The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 12 — 2013 Music
CONCERTCONCERTR E V IE W
Magnús Andersen
“When he wasn’t sloshing his
gin and tonics over his neigh-
bours he held up a burning
joint to the band like a ritual-
istic offering.”
31 Faktorý http://grisalappalisa.bandcamp.com
JULY