From Iceland — Cynic Guru - Iceland

Music
Review
+-

Cynic Guru – Iceland


Published October 7, 2005

Roland Hartwell is a violinist for the Icelandic symphony orchestra and the frontman of Cynic Guru. As their debut single demonstrates, Hartwell has an impressive vocal range, and a great ear for pop—he seems to blend later Beatle melodies with Depeche Mode, but not in a derivative way. The great surprise for us was that the breaks this band takes to feature the violin are often awkward—Guru get a good groove going without fully using their musicianship, and then seem to realize that they need to jam. While vocals are sung very well, the lyrics themselves don’t hold up. I won’t quote from Dick, or Belly or Scab, as that would be mean-spirited. Even listening closely to Drugs, the first single, we are told “something went wrong”—what can go wrong with bad drugs? “They say he jumped out of the window.”

Support The Reykjavík Grapevine!
Buy subscriptions, t-shirts and more from our shop right here!

Music
Album Reviews
Eitt

Eitt

by

Music
Album Reviews
Psych Fuck

Psych Fuck

by

Music
Album Reviews
Few More Days To Go

Few More Days To Go

by

Music
Album Reviews
‘Icelandick’

‘Icelandick’

by

Music
Album Reviews
5

5

by

Show Me More!