Band of the Week: Sprengjuhöllin

[13-19 Apríl]
Sprengjuhöllin
Sounds Like: Indie-Pop
Drinking Buddies: Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, Andrew Bird, Fanfarlo.
Synopsis: Hvers vegna svo alvarlegur, Sigur Rós og Björk. Gleðja!
Makes You Want To...: singur; ganga í garðurin; dansa.
[Myspace]



This month, Voilà! is covering foreign bands!
Einn vika, einn band. Þú vita venjain.
This week, the featured artist is Sprengjuhöllin.


Iceland. How much do you know about it? Sure, it has long held the title of best standard in living in the entire world for quite some time. Yeah, I guess their economy kind of collapsed recently. But that's not what I mean for you to think about when I motion my query. I want to know what you know about this mysterious, curious country lost between North America and Europe, placed firmly on the black coloured, volcanic soil that was first colonized by those old Norse. I'm asking how much you know of the unique people, culture, and language; think about it! These are the folks whom are odd enough to eat wild puffin, as well as brave enough to eat slátur; these are the folks whom are used to things like geothermal heating and the Ring Road; these are the folks whom who are cool enough to still use a Þ [thorn] in their language, and have the most complicated sounding names I've heard of: example, Ísafjördður (which I think means "Isaf's Fjord").

Musically, we've been exposed to brief glimpses of the mysterious interior of Iceland. There is Björk, with her eclectic electronica and ether-esque music which makes you scratch your head and wonder. Her liberalism and activism is a fresh take on the rest of the world, a perspective that could only have been fostered in the lonely Icelandic lands. Then there's Sigur Rós, the wildly esoteric post-rock band which surpasses any and all expectations of understanding. Sometimes they sing in their native tongue; sometimes they don't sing in a real language at all. But all their music represents the modest culture, yet overpowering, lonely, desolate beauty of Iceland. But with all this heavy, thought-filled music, one might think that the Icelandic people are all a serious lot, who don't know how enjoy themselves with a proper bit of silliness.

And how far from the truth that is. A truth that Sprengjuhöllin hopes to make very much evident. Sprengjuhöllin hails from the Icelandic capitol of Reykjavík, where they hang out and make some of the newest, most novel indie-pop in the Atlantic (as well as elsewhere, of course). Their sound is light and jovial, bringing about a perkier side of Iceland that the more serious musicians can't express in their heavily orchestrated songs.

But don't let these other bands fool you, Sprengjuhöllin is also a very serious band. The quintet got their starts back in 2005, but saw their real successful outburst in 2007. Similar to the build-up of Fanfarlo over in the UK, Sprengjuhöllin released three singles in short succession, and quickly rose in popularity on the Icelandic music scene. Following their singles was the release of their debut, full length LP, Timarnir Okkar, and was met with resounding success, and is now one of the better selling records in the country. They followed this release with their sophomore release in 2008, called Bestu Kveðjur, filled to the brim with more delightful tunes (and a really epic album cover).

You can fetch both Timarnir Okkar and Bestu Kveðjur on iTunes, or you can search around on emusic. Of course, Sprengjuhöllin has a Myspace. The latest news from the Reykjavík collective was about their trip to North America, with the special emphasis on their adventures down in South by Southwest. Besides this, the band has been quite silent. But that shouldn't stop you from enjoying all of their tunes, and even their videos! Even befriend them on Facebook, if that's to your liking.


And in a bit of Voilà! news, expect another feature article on another of the lovely line-up of foreign bands later this week. Until then, dear reader, peace.