Trúbrot: Trúbrot

In 1969 two Icelandic bands decided to form the country’s first rock supergroup. Trúbrot was the outcome and Trúbrot was Trúbrot’s first album. The musicians make a bold bid for unoriginality by spending most of their time covering the songs of other people. Lyrics are sung in íslenska. The Beatles’ “Things We Said Today” finds itself with a new and rather good intro. Jose Feliciano’s “Rain” is sung by a woman. An organ spreads the landscape with fuzz. An adapted “Pilgrim’s Chorus” from Wagner’s Tannhäuser obtains a piano and a drumkit. Paradoxically for an album that relies so much on the creativity of other people, Trúbrot hums along with the kind of happiness that comes with a confident belief in one’s own self-worth. Faithful to the contemporary ethos that valued youthful silliness, the musicians make cartoon chicken noises in “Eg Se Það” and put on funny voices for “Afgangar”. Wagner they play straight.