Reykjavík Grapevine - 08.01.2016, Side 20

We teamed up with fancy design firm
karlssonwilker to make you some
artisanal t-shirts sporting several
iconic Reykjavík buildings. Get
them at www.grapevine.is and also
probably at some store eventually,
when we get around to talking to the
store people.
"I want to carry
Reykjavík on
my chest!"
Risaeðlan was made up of kids that were
keen followers of the great resurrection
of Icelandic rock in the early 80s. Magga
Stína (vocals/violin) and Dóra Wonder
(vocals/saxophone—the sister of drum-
mer Kommi from Taugadeildin and
Oxsmá) had been inspired by Grýlurnar,
the first all-women rock band in Ice-
land, to go out and do something. In MH
college they met up with Margét Örnólf-
sdóttir, who played the keyboards, and
three boys: bassist Ívar Bongo, drummer
Tóti (who also played in Vonbrigði) and
guitarist Siggi (formely of a group called
Trúðurinn, “The Clown”).
The six-piece started playing in 1984,
using names like No. 1 and Júhú-stelpur
(“Yoo-hoo-Girls”) before settling on
Risaeðlan (it means “The Dinosaur,”
but they translated it to “Reptile” when
making their moves abroad). This was
during the 80s so reptiles were cool,
along with space gadgets and colourful
dresses—think ‘Pee-wee’s Playhouse’,
with a slight punk leaning. The B-52's
were an important influence—the kids
would go to the Safarí discoteque (next
door to where Kex Hostel is now), where
the highlight of the night was dancing to
“Planet Claire.”
That sweet indie cash
Nothing much happened with Ri-
saeðlan until 1988, when the band had
gotten tight enough to play regularly at
the Reykjavík joints at the time: Safarí at
Skúlagata (which by then had changed
its name to Casablanca), Hressó, the tiny
Duus-hús at Fischersund and Tunglið
at Lækjargata (Duus-hús was later
torn down, and Tunglið burned to the
ground). Like
other bands at
the time, Ri-
saeðlan also
performed at
schools and
r e c r e a t i o n a l
centers around
the country.
This was
the time when
the Sugarcubes
were becoming
international
indie darlings.
All the atten-
tion they got
worked like a
shot of vita-
mins for the
local alt-bands.
The Sugar-
cubes had their
own label, Sme-
kkleysa, and
when the indie
cash started
rolling in from
across the seas,
S m e k k l e y s a
had money
to finance re-
leases from
various local
bands. Along with Risaeðlan, bands like
Ham and my own band, Bless, benefit-
ted from the Sugarcubes’ support. The
Sugarcubes would invite them to play
support slot in their shows abroad, en-
abling them to finally play for more
than the loyal 50-200 local fans that
generally made up
their crowd. They
would often per-
form together
in Iceland at so-
called “Smekk-
leysa Nights,” and
were collectively
referred to as
“the Smekkleysa
Bands,” even
though none of
them sounded at
all similar.
World
domination!
Risaeðlan's first
release, a 4-track
12” EP, came out
in June of 1989.
Shortly after, the
band ventured to
New York to per-
form at the New
Music Seminar
along with fel-
low Smekkleysa
bands Ham and
Bless, and a shy
poet called Jón
Gnarr, who usu-
ally got booed
off stage when
he had appeared before the bands back
in Iceland. At the time, Risaeðlan were
a five-piece, as Margrét Örnólfsdót-
tir had left and joined the Sugarcubes.
Their first gig was at an East Village bar
called Downtown Beirut II. Speaking as
someone who also performed that night,
I can confirm that the show was kind of
a letdown, as the venue was about half
the size of the smallest place in Iceland.
Nonetheless, we kept our spirits high,
pushed the bar’s pool table to the side
and tried our best to entertain the few
NY-based Icelanders who showed up,
while keeping at bay the grumpy regu-
lars who wanted their pool table back.
The following stateside gigs were much
better, at New York City’s Pyramid Club
and upstate in Albany, where the bands
and poet travelled in a beat-up van.
The New York sojourn was part of
Smekkleysa's “World Domination or
Death” plan to push local artists on cool
foreigners in the wake of the Sugar-
cubes’ popularity. Various deals were
made, and Risaeðlan's debut album
‘Fame and Fossils’ was released on UK
indie lable Workers Playtime in May
1990. “Risaeðlan will be the next band to
break through after The Sugarcubes”—
the Icelandic media claimed. “We have
no idea what is going to happen or what
we are gonna be doing,” the band said
in an interview at the time. “We don't
know what it means to get our photos
published in some dead boring English
pop magazines. The only thing we know
is that we are going to be collecting
debts this summer.”
The Icelandic Way
And so, Risaeðlan collected debts. First
on the East Coast of the USA, where the
band toured for three weeks that July.
That tour’s highlight was a concert at
NY’s fabled Knitting Factory, where
David Byrne was among the audience,
along with Swans’ Roli Mosimann,
whom Risaeðlan had spotted on the
street and dragged in just before the
show started. Roli went on to become
a friend of the band, doing recording
sessions with both Risaeðlan and Ham.
Next, Risaeðlan embarked upon a fairly
successful European tour—however,
that autumn Dóra was forced to quit the
band upon commencing studies to be
an actor at Reykjavík's drama school, as
students at the school were not allowed
to perform publicly while enrolled.
The group soldiered on and got a
boy from the East Fjords, Hreinn Ste-
phensen, to play guitar and the accordi-
on. The band started working on a new
album with Roli Mosimann, but split
before the album was finised, report-
edly because Magga Stína got pregnant
and took it so seriously that she saw no
recourse but to give up on music for the
time being. Risaeðlan’s second effort,
‘Efta’, was thus not released until 1996,
when it was finished and released on
CD with some older songs thrown in for
good measure.
Risaeðlan was and is unique on the
Icelandic pop landscape, truly a band
to remember. Their mix of Western and
Middle Eastern grooves and hooks is
funky and always fun. There was noth-
ing like them then, and there is nothing
like them today.
And here’s the good news: We can all
brace ourselves for a comeback! Ó yes!
Risaeðlan are reforming, and are set to
perform at the Aldrei fór ég suður festi-
val in Ísafjörður during Easter 2016.
Everyone agreed: “It’s about time we
pay tribute to Risaeðlan, one of the
best bands to come out of Iceland in
the 80s.”
Why was Risaeðlan so great? Ev-
eryone agreed: “Their music made
them great. And their unbridled cre-
ative joy! And the chemistry between
singers Magga Stína and Halldóra
Geirharðs.”
Risaeðlan played a wacky, unhinged
type of rock music, rife with punk un-
dercurrents, yet simmering with pop
sensibilities. Surfacing in the late 80s
as part of the Smekkleysa collective,
they made a huge mark on the scene,
and their influence remains audible in
certain corners of Icelandic music. “I
was, unfortunately, too young to at-
tend their shows when they were ac-
tive,” noted one panellist, “but I really
loved their music. It was so wonder-
fully weird and full of whimsy, unlike
anything else you’d hear on the radio.”
We hear Risaeðlan are planning a
reunion gig at this year’s Aldrei fór
ég suður festival, so our panellists’
dreams of seeing ‘em play might fi-
nally come true. Risaeðlan: what a
wonderful band!
A BAND TO REMEMBER
The Superfun
Reptile Returns!
By Dr. Gunni Band To Remember
Band to
Remember:
Risaeðlan