Oh, for the days of the Icelandic punk scene! Indeed, before she was a mystical magical E-taking 90's hippie, Björk was, indeed, an Icelandic goth punk chick (that is, of course, much after she was a schmaltz disco pre-teen). And most of her mates that would wind up in the Sugarcubes with her were in on the action as well. The beginnings of K.U.K.L. ('witch' in Icelandic, pronounced like "kirchk") lie in a very herky jerky new wave outfit called Tappi Tikkarrass (rough translation: 'cork in the bitch's ass') and the endings lie, of course, in the Sugarcubes. Hearing the two bands that came directly before and directly after K.U.K.L., the band feels like the ultimate transition for a loose group of growing musicians. The two proper K.U.K.L. albums heard on their own, however, are quite startling. You think about what was going on in tiny ol' Iceland in the mid-80's and they are pretty much one of the single most punk rock minded things, well, ever. A strange, confrontational mixture of Björk's wailing lead vocals and squalling post-punk, truly GOTH-sounding riffs makes for one of the weirdest footnotes in contemporary music. But is the band just a footnote? Decide for yourself.
Related pages: Björk, the Sugarcubes
Yo, dis page be comin' soon an'sheeit. Don't dismember yourself in sadness.
