So in 2001 I played in a not so great but not absolutely terrible band called Icelandic (terrible name, though....). We put out a CD and sent them off to all these online sites for reviews. We got one right after another that were short paragraph positive reviews. More or less a sentence about the album after describing the band and location, genre, etc. Then this came. Boom:
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Icelandic – The Young Mr. Palomar :
Icelandic
The Young Mr. Palomar
Here’s something you haven’t ever heard before: three friends (who curiously play bass, guitar and drums) start a small, earnest, punk band and release a CD. Call up “Behind the Music!” Surely this has never happened before! Where the hell lis John Norris when you really need him? To make things even more remarkable, the musicianship and songwriting is of average quality, and the production is appropriately sub- par. But truth be told, no matter how many times its been done before, there is a certain charm and appeal to the classic power-pop trio. For all the arty music out there, sometimes three people, four power chords, and some strained vocal cords do the trick.
To be absolutely fair, the Icelandic’s songwriting isn’t all that bad, although some of the better songs are occasionally hidden by pedestrian singing and shoddy production. Though those lo-fi hallmarks are occasionally a hindrance, they are also occasionally a blessing. For instance, on “Big Star!” Icelandic come out sounding like Pavement’s stupid younger brother, complete with “La La’s” and everything. On “Scanning the Crowd,” lead singer Chuck XXXXXXXX contemplates his own shortcomings: “am I half-right, or am I so wrong?” “Coffee & Tea,” the album’s opener, kicks things off with disjointed blasts of bass and percussion and a kick-ass chorus melody that showcases some of the band’s songwriting skills. During their best moments (like the two aforementioned songs), the band sound much like a Superchunk in theirheyday (No Pocky for Kitty).
The band does occasionally fall into some pretty annoying punk cliches. They manage to pull the now- obligatory acoustic number with “The Alleged Mercedes,” a boring, plodding “kiss me” song that would have been best left on the four-track. The guitar riffs occasionally sound dry and uninspired (such as on “The Bottle”), and while I wasn’t expecting Van Halen, some variety would have been nice. XXXXXX (singer) more than occasionally overextends his voice, and while he can occasionally get away with it, a certain amount of cringing still occurs.
Those, however, are minor complaints when you consider that Icelandic are a pretty decent band. They do a much more bearable Superchunk impersonation than the overpolished Get Up Kids, because intentionally or not, Icelandic have captured their lo-fi, garage-band appeal much better than most bands do. The songwriting isn’t spectacular, but it’s sort of like Pavement in that you don’t always know you’ve heard something truly catchy until you can’t get it out of your head three hours later. It’s unlikely that this ragtag trio from New Mexico will ever release a noteworthy album full of ingenious songwriting and unforgettable hooks. But they still give a damn, and they probably pot on a helluva live show. Sometimes that’s more than enough.
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As the singer and the principal songwriter, yeah, it hurt but it's obvious they actually listened to the recording. More than once, closely. I learned more about myself as a musician and songwriter from this one review than all the other press we got combined plus some. I'm appreciative but it stung for a long time. We played SXSW that year supporting this album, but I knew right then that I had to get better. I think I have.
