Reykjavík Grapevine - aug. 2021, Side 7

Remember Hanoi Rocks? Man, they
rocked! To this day, I can’t get enough
of “Boulevard of Broken Dreams.” You
feel me?
Stop lying. I know you don’t remem-
ber them—if you even have any idea
who they are.
A brief history of (glam)
time
For the uninitiated, Hanoi Rocks was a
Finnish glam rock band from the 1980s.
The group has been cited as a major
influence by bands you might have actu-
ally heard of, such as Guns N' Roses,
Poison, and Mötley Crüe. Unfortunately,
despite their prolific musical impact,
Hanoi Rocks had a rather short-lived
career—debuting in 1979 and calling
it quits in 1985 after the tragic death of
drummer Razzle following a party at
Vince Neil’s house.
So while Hanoi Rocks arguably
pushed a new sound, spawning some
massive hits for other bands—c’mon
“Paradise City” baby!—no one outside
Finland or Sweden or basement glam
rock aficionados really gives them any
attention or recognition. They certainly
don’t garner repeated plays at every
strip club around the world or VH1
dating shows.
To sum it up, Hanoi Rocks are basi-
cally the Ullr of the glam rock world.
Who tf is Ullr?
Ullr is a rather enigmatic Norse God.
He’s rarely mentioned in old writings,
save for sparse appearances in the
'Grímnismál' and the 'Atlakvi!a.' At
one point, there was apparently some
glorious story about him sailing off into
the ocean, but whoever had that docu-
ment probably thought it was too main-
stream and threw it out like a worn
copy of ‘The Da Vinci Code’.
Wait, too mainstream? Well, the
thing about Ullr is that his name was,
in the times of old, adopted as the title
of many locales in southern Sweden
and western Norway, meaning that
he was, at said time, an extremely
influential deity. That said, we, in the
times of new, know basically nothing
about him, which is a shame, consid-
ering how other super popular ancient
mainstream texts like ‘The Iliad’ are
now studied intensely by Ivory Tower
academics who would never even
breathe on a copy of ‘The Da Vinci Code’.
So what do we know about Ullr?
Well, his dad was the star Aurvandil.
And we don’t mean star in the Mötley
Crüe sense—he was literally a burning
spheroid of plasma. Ullr was apparently
also really good at archery. And there we
go. That’s it. Ullr was basically Katniss
Everdeen if she had been born in the
Andromeda galaxy and then everyone
decided The Hunger Games and space
were lame.
So Ullr was super famous at one point
before humans—the elitist hipsters
we are—deemed him too popular and
pretended they were never even into
him, turning their attention to more
obscure gods like "ór and Freyr. Barf.
And Ullr was lost to history. Just like
Hanoi Rocks.
7 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 08— 2021
Svarti Laxness -
Hvaddagera
Summer vibes with
a dark twist from
Svarti Laxness, the
musical persona of
all-round renaissance
man Daví' $ór.
“Hvaddagera”—which
translates roughly
as “what are you
doing?”—bowls
in all robust beats
and bouncing bass
underneath Daví'’s
smooth lyrical flow.
But the track feels
edgy, like someone
who comes into a
room but declines to
take their coat o& or
sit down. JP

Ásta - Melabú"in
The quaint and
quirky corner store
Melabú'in is fitting
inspiration for folk
artist Ásta’s most
recent single, which
floats between sharp
downbeats and
folksy upbeats. The
track centres around
an experience Ásta
had one December
evening at the iconic
shop. She noticed
some teenage boys
swaggering around,
attempting to ooze
with coolness.
Ásta’s lyrics capture
vulnerabilities
through overheard
conversations and
observations. An
unconventional tune
created from the
most ordinary of
circumstances. BK

Nico Guerrero -
Streams of Oblivion
Dissonant.
Discordant.
Disturbing. Sonic
drones and twisted
guitars smother an
anxiety dreamscape,
spiralling upwards
around each other
into a space that
is simultaneously
expansive and
su&ocating. Nico
cites “Icelandic
telluric forces,
volcanoes, ghosts
and deities” as
the entities which
permeate his work.
It’s the kind of music
I could invite to wash
over me, if I was in the
right mood. But that
would have to be a
pretty weird mood.
And I wouldn’t want
to indulge it for too
long. JP

Monstra - Nobody
Icelandic darkwave/
electro-punk duo
Monstra go way back,
having performed
together for about a
decade before COVID
hit and they changed
their style, swapping
acoustic guitars for
synthesizers. The
result is slick, dark,
danceable, and
catchy. It compares
favourably to the
bests of old school
post-punk, goth rock
and new wave, with
a kick of added girl
power. If, like me,
you have a playlist
titled “Vampire Dance
Party,” you owe this a
listen. EP

Daníel Hjálmt!sson
- Back To Bed
Occupying a space
between gothic,
post-punk, singer-
songwriter and what
might broadly be
called “dark rock,”
Daníel Hjálmt"sson’s
latest single is a
song that is greater
than the sum of its
parts. What binds it
together is Daníel’s
voice, which shares
great adjectival
overlap with fine
co&ees and wines;
one might say it sips
well. Play this song
as you take o& your
weather-worn duster
and pour yourself a
whiskey, sinking back
into your armchair
as you think of lost
loves and forgotten
memories. EP
GRAPEVINE
PLAYLIST
JUST SAYINGS
This edition of Just Sayings isn’t so
much about an Icelandic catchphrase
as it is about a cultural institution:
Hallærisplani!.
Hallærisplani! literally means “the
tacky lot” and can be more precisely
translated as “the cringe zone.” But it’s
more than a concept; it’s an actual place,
located where Ingólfstorg is now. In
the 60s, 70s, and even much of the 80s,
it was the de rigeur hangout spot for
Reykjavík teenagers. Kids from all over
town would meet here to drink, chat
and put on their best tryhard airs to
showcase how cool they were.
Today, young people go to the inter-
net to do these things, but Hallæris-
plani! still lives in the hearts of many
Boomer-aged Icelanders, who in all
likelihood have many embarrassing
memories of their time there. ASF
First
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Ingólfstorg circa 1977, photo from Ljósmyndasafn Reykjavíkur
,,Hallærisplani"”
GODS OF ICELAND
Superpowers:
Unclear. Presumably super awesome
and likeable.
Weaknesses:
Too awesome and likeable.
Modern Analogy:
Hanoi Rocks… didn’t you read the
article?
Ullr, The Hanoi Rocks Of The Norse
Pantheon
The Grapevine has never for!otten these rock !ods
Words:
Hannah Jane
Cohen
Photo:
Hanoi Rocks
'Oriental Beat'
See you on the Boulevard, Ullr