Bang Gang reviewed
Bang Gang
Something Wrong
(Ryko/From Nowhere)
Finally released in America, this Icelandic “band” sits on the coastline and tries to pick up distant European and New World pop stations.
Opening with “Inside” — which sounds like an Annie club track slowed to complement Iceland’s sculpted geography — Bardi Johannsson’s Bang Gang can barely get their heads to surface in Sigur Rós’ wake. Yet as this frigid preponderance pops up whenever it pleases, there’s a skewed, dramatic weirdness enveloping these pop songs. “Contradictions” might be Billie Holiday stumbling in on Twilight Singers as the sun comes up. Their loopy cover of “Stop In The Name Of Love” would surface as a novelty were it to stand alone, but in this context Johannsson has invoked The Byrds, Of Montreal, and Stereolab to comforting effect. Granted, much of the album has the staying power of an asthmatic in a dust storm, but Bang Gang can be quite convincing when the distractions are held at bay and melancholic wonders like “It’s Alright” can fill the air. In the four years since this was arranged, it’s hoped Johannsson has locked on a clearer signal.
— Kevin Keegan
