Unfairly or not, when you think of Iceland you think of volcanoes, tectonic plates, geothermal energy, sending bankers to prison, and Björk. Not necessarily in that order.
Setting aside geographical and political decisions and focusing on the music side of things, there is a lot more to this nation musically than Björk. You just have to look. That’s not to dismiss the one person from Iceland that most people outside of the country can name, especially as she is ‘sort of’ linked to the group via the label which released their eponymous debut album. That label is Smekkleysa, founded by The Sugarcubes for whom Björk was the lead singer. Also, the singer of Mammút is the daughter of bassist, Birgir Mogensen, who was in a band called Kukl that was the precursor to The Sugarcubes. Following along so far?
Starting life as a three-piece, all-female ‘rock’ band, they won Iceland’s Battle Of The Bands in 2003. Let’s just pause for a second and think about that. The country has a Battle Of The Bands competition.
The country.
We have Eurovision.
In 2006, having expanded to a five-piece, their debut album was released. It has always fascinated me since I first heard them. I wrongly assumed that it was a Björk album I hadn’t heard, as it played after I’d be listening to her on a streaming service – you know how they find ‘things you might like’ based on your listening, well this was one such example. I was instantly hooked. The swooping vocals, the post-punk style guitar with some pop tendencies; the touches of percussion and piano that brighten up the mood, all of these things are what I hear as staples of the Icelandic music scene that’s broken out internationally. It could have veered into “IKEAmetal” territory, but the band keeps things the right side of that line. (By “IKEAmetal”, I mean that sort of music-by-numbers metal that is beloved of so many over-hyped metal bands from Scandinavian countries).
Mammút don’t play by rules. Take Gítarlagið for example, which has more in common with early Siouxsie and the Banshees than anyone else. There’s some neat percussive moments that catch the ear just before the vocals begin; there’s the bass note slide before the second chorus too. These details are so well thought through that while they are obviously intentional they are no less surprising and pleasing to hear.
While I wouldn’t call them a ‘pop’ band, there are songs such as Flottræfill, Faðmur, and Mosavaxin Börn that have a sound which could easily break the band into the charts outside of Iceland. More melodic, and sometimes quieter than most of the tracks, they showcase the songwriting and compositional talents of the band. The clapping on Mosavaxin Börn, for example, is just the perfect way to build into the punkier second half of the song and come out of it towards the end.
If there’s one thing that stands out beyond the music, for me, it’s the fact they’ve refused to centre the name in their logo. It sits lower down, slightly off-centre. I can’t say why it makes me smile, but it does. I like it. As with everything the band does on this record, it feels intentional, purposeful and a delight.
It’s fitting that they take their name from the Icelandic word for mammoth, because this is a HUGE piece of art for a debut album. Unlike the mammoth it’s, thankfully, not extinct (although it’s only available digitally and on CD). This means you can enjoy it and not just take my word for how brilliant it is. If you’ve not heard it before, I think you may just have a new band high up on your favourite list.