It looks like Bjork has some competition coming out of Iceland these days. After listening to the new release of Singapore Sling entitled My Life is Killing My Rock N Roll, it is safe to say that this may be the best music coming out of the Nordic Island. When I listen to a new band for the first time, I always try to figure out which other bands they sound like. It was difficult for me this time because just when it seemed that I had them figured out, they seemed to go in a new direction. This is one of the defining attributes of this album.
For the first two tracks, Sunday Club and Cure Curse Curse the album appears to be a hard rock Lead singer Henrik Bjornsson’s almost mono tone singing with most other bands would be a nasty distractions and make the album hard to listen to. However in this case, it goes perfectly with the hypnotic guitar riffs. They use feedback to blend the guitars of Helgi Petursson and Einar Kristjansson. At first it sounded as if it were a Smashing Pumpkins from their earlier works, then it changed.
By track 6, titled Twisted and Sick, the album blended the music had kept the heavy feedback but now began to incorporate more of a blues sound to the lead guitar. By the next track, J.D., the blues sound had progressed to a bluegrass or country tune. Along with the next track, Living Dead, the music sounded like it came right out of a Quentin Tarantino film… and then it changed again.
Guiding Light began to incorporate a heavier bass line and then broke into a pop sound a la U2. The last few tracks become more pop and dance tunes. I don’t mean that they are disco but no longer are the songs dark and hard rock. The guitars remain heavy with a lot of background feedback. The dark music is replaced by more of a lighter, happier sound. With a title such as Life is Killing My Rock N Roll; you would be surprised to find anything that would resemble a love song, yet Guiding Light gives us a surprising ballad amidst the “chaos.”
The album closes with two songs that seem blend all the three different musical forms together. A Little Love once again incorporates the mono-toned vocals in front of the screeching guitar but the music suddenly changes as an organ floats above the music for a short while. The final track, Lets Go Dancing, continues to build and build. The group chants almost incoherently in the background and the guitars continue to howl and screech.
As a whole, I found Life… to be enjoyable. At times, the constant screeching from the feedback did become a distraction and the singing at times was hard to hear but I was surprised to find myself drumming along with the songs. Singapore Sling has the potential to make some great music in the future if they can continue to evolve their music past a few songs. The group showed that they have some range and are not just making music to sell. Most of the songs may never get airplay, as they are not particularly radio friendly. However, as a whole body of work it was worth listening to. I found that it worked a good background noise for those of us that enjoy having music on in the background. It was easy on the ears and didn’t require the listener to pay particular close attention. |