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Singer Bóas provides a friendly atmosphere, drummer Kristján supplies a steady, rocking beat, bassist Valdi gets with the dementia and the twin-guitar assault of cousins Haukur and Gummi smears icing on an already overloaded cacophonous cake. They are also happy to provide freeloaders with fashion tips and thoughts on the current Reykjavík hipster slang, should anyone wish to meet them for a beer or some feminist pornography. Reykjavík! had at the time of original writing had no hits, no radio play and next to no fan-mail (girlfriends aside). But wondrous things happen and Reykjavík! has garnered great attention in the time since they first started heaving out amphetamine-fuelled guitar orgies, their Iceland Airwaves 2005 performance resulted in them being hand-picked to appear at a concert organized by Britain’s premier rock e-zine, Drownedinsound.com, along with three cool Icelandic acts and in April 2006 they finished recording their debut album, 'Glacial landscapes, Religion, Opression & Alcohol' produced by Valgeir Sigurðsson (collaborator to Björk and producer to Bonnie Prince Billy). The band played international festivals such as Eurosonic (Holland) MIDEM (Cannes) BY:LARM (Norway) and SXSW (Texas) and their debut received a nomination in the 'best rock album' category at the 2006 Icelandic Music Awards. Press: „ Reykjavík! know the value of showmanship. Singer Bóas is basically all over the place during their performances of short and energetic songs. In tiny bars like Sirkus this can be quite a thing to watch, as he jumped on top of the bar, fell into the crowd, and basically acted like a complete moron - all a few inches from the concert guests. But this behaviour has always been considered cool in rock and roll and I’m not going to question that opinion. When asked to play an encore, guitarist Haukur responded: “We’ve only been a band for a year. We don’t know any more songs!” That’s Reykjavík!: Really fast, really short, really stupid, and pretty darn good.“ -n/a, Reykjavík Grapevine „The energetic punk band Reykjavík! divided the audience. Their “lively” (to use one word for it, also totally crazy and unbearable to either watch or listen to come to mind) show was named by some as the best live performance of the festival, while one observer noted that “somebody should tell him [the singer] that it’s embarrassing.” One thing is certain, however: Reykjavík! put on a show that didn’t leave the audience cold. The singer managed to, among other things, run around the concert hall and scream in contest with the audience, which at that point seemed to share the same level of drunkenness with the artists performing. As for the music...well, the performance and the screaming answered for the main part anyway.“ -n/a, Reykjavík Grapevine „”I’d like especially to welcome all members of the foreign press and record company executives. We love music!” exclaimed Reykjavík!s cardigan-clad singer-guitarist as his five-piece band took the stage. Easily the loudest band of the evening (if not the loudest band in all of Iceland), Reykjavík! dropped punk barnburners that set the singer’s throaty vocals – one part Thom Yorke, three parts desperate screech – over speedy, deftly syncopated stomp, with the guitarist shouting coarse interjections like an Icelandic Flava Flav. Their salvo of jagged guitars and desperate wailing was sometimes hard to take, but during some well-conceived passages – especially when the singer and guitarist engaged in some syncopated call-and-response – it was clear that Reykjavík! would have set a smaller venue on fire.“ -Christian Hoard, Reykjavik Grapevine „Walking into Hressó on December 21st to see a Þórir gig, it felt a bit like New Year’s Day—the party had obviously already happened, and Reykjavík! was entirely responsible. While there was a universal view that Reykjavík! were “morons”, there was disagreement as to whether this was a bad thing, with most of the people who didn’t work at the bar arguing in favour of the behaviour. Knowing this, we set out for Reykjavík!’s next show at Stúdentakjallarinn, where the walls are a little less fragile, early. Into the first number, I was glad to have concrete walls. Into the second, I wished it was padded. Reykjavík! are the single least coordinated band I have ever seen—for a 45-minute set, the rhythm guitarist Gummi accidentally unplugged his guitar no less than eight times. Lead guitarist Haukur, or lead rhythm guitarist, fell down. A lot. But Haukur and bassist Valdi kept the music churning, and the one member of Reykjavík! blessed with a minimal level of coordination tested this by jumping from chair to chair. The jumping was cool, especially when done just as Haukur was falling, as odds dictated would happen. (I’m not being cruel: Haukur explained that he loses balance when he plays guitar, that he “Can’t feel [his] legs]” but that this doesn’t stop him from dancing, hence falling.) The falling was fun, especially when Haukur slammed onto his own guitar and borrowed a pricey guitar from headlining band Benni Hemm Hemm, only to fall on it immediately. (After the gig he swore to me that he “fell with it”—my viewing angle may have been obstructed, so I have to allow for this.) Reykjavík! were indeed like New Year’s Eve: sloppy and messy and kind of fun, but after the experience of the show, I couldn’t remember one riff, one melody, one bit of rhythm, or one lyric that had drawn me in.“ Bart Cameron, Reykjavík Grapevine „I was further dismayed when I checked the programme to discover that pompous revivalists Jet Black Joe were next, but at least one of them had been delayed for whatever reason, and thus we were spoon-fed the third and final exercise in complete and spontaneous onstage awesomeness. Reykjavík! were an immense fireball, a sickeningly brilliant reconstruction of modern rock so majestic and pure that it was difficult to watch and even harder to describe. Singer Bóas was the first thing to get one’s attention, tearing off article after article of clothing as he defied gravity with his desperate bounds and scrambles and provided the perfect visual aid to the searing madness that is Reykjavík!’s music. But it was guitarist Haukur who made my day, personally. The entire band is obviously blessed with a wholehearted love of what they do, but Haukur positively glowed with it.“ -Sindri Eldon, Reykjavík Grapevine „That more-to-be-had is presented in no uncertain manner by Reykjavik! at Grand Rokk. The five piece may present obvious hardcore stylings in their armoury, but they have a heck of a lot more. Furious grinding guitars and a propulsive rythmn section are complemented by a front man who looks not unlike a young Zach de la Rocha throwing himself about the stage and beyond with great aplomb. Really rather fabulous.· -Drownedinsound.com, okt. 2004 „Reykjavik!; Our most favourite band from DiS' visit to the Iceland Airwaves Festival last October. At the time we said 'The five piece may present obvious hardcore stylings in their armoury, but they have a heck of a lot more. Furious grinding guitars and a propulsive rythmn section are complemented by a front man who looks not unlike a young Zach de la Rocha throwing himself about the stage and beyond with great aplomb. Really rather fabulous.'“ -Drownedinsound.com, feb. 2005
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