From Iceland — Hellvar: Stop That Noise

Published October 14, 2011

Since their 2007 debut ‘Bat Out Of Hellvar,’ Hellvar have grown from a duo and laptop to a fully fledged band, with drums, bass and everything. And with their second album, they are setting out to ROCK very hard, like a fucker of mothers. 
And yes, ‘Stop That Noise,’ does have plenty of rock components such as big drum rolls and squalling guitars. But for a ROCK album it feels too clipped, too constrained, too clean to really hit home. There’s a distinct lack of dirt going on here. Even Heiða’s vocals, while good and strong, are not particularly that rocking.
No, what ‘Stop That Noise’ is is a superior piece of pop-as-rock, just like their music spirit totem, Garbage. There are some really catchy tunes and lyrics on this album, although they do remind you of other tunes. ‘I Should Be Cool’ contains that stomp riff motif that’s been used by everyone from the Troggs to Transvision Vamp, ‘Falsetto’ has the cyber-pop feel of T.A.T.U, while I’m sure they got clearance from Janes Addiction’s lawyers to rework ‘Classic Girl’ as ‘Anna Amma.’
But despite this air of similarity, ‘Stop That Noise’ does show a clear progression from their first album and there’s definitely enough here to keep their fans interested.