From Iceland — Ég - Plata Ársins

Published October 7, 2005

The album says it will be album of the year, and the production, a blend of bedroom studio technique with Pet Sounds ambition, feels audacious enough to deserve the title. The 20 tracks on this album take time to digest. Many times the falsetto vocals and complex rhythmic change-ups feel a bit gimmicky, as though Ég are trying to avoid getting stuck and pinned down and listened to with one voice- think of bad Jethro Tull. But the overall playfulness of Plata Ársins, along with well-crafted bass and drums, overcome the poor production quality and the ineffective vocals. You get the feeling that this band will be around.