Words by

Jóhannes Bjarkason

Photo by

Supplied by artist

Sucks To Be You Nigel talk their latest record birdnoise

Punk-rockers Sucks To Be You Nigel released their sophomore album birdnoise on November 10. A departure from their 2021 Tína blóm, the outfit’s latest record draws inspiration from ‘90s post-hardcore, post-rock and the band’s idiosyncratic humour — as demonstrated by their explanations of some of these songs. Bow to The King.

Susie takes a soundbath

The mixture of our singer gargling liquid, banging guitars with on-site objects and the train-like rhythmic section creates a noisy and abrasive introduction to the album.

Maskín

The song is a mechanical thing. How does it work? How intricate the sludge. A never-ending drive of industrial power to spare, crawling towards the crescendo of your inevitable doom. All hail The Slug.

Splitta G-inu

Mmmmm. Riff. Drums. Bass. Voice. What more could you possibly ask for? A simple yet content little medley. Sometimes ignorance truly is bliss.

Spaceman

Space-guitars and a forgotten bass groove lain upon space-drums in complete weightlessness. Spatial awareness at its best. The crackling bedside of the astronaut’s quarters and a bottle of Côtes du Rhône. Oh, he was so sublime! Stargazing off into the sunset. A man of taste.

Where the sim card is sold

Brace your ears. This song may appear as a quiet and soothful tune, but after a few bars you realise that you were wrong. All of the sudden a painful loudness surrounds the whole of your conscience. Almost unserious.

Tonnatak

Written while waiting for a Terraria update to install and attempting to capture the essence of the game and 2D life in general. This led to a longing for a simpler state of being; perfectly obtained in a game of “hide and seek”.

Ég var svona feitt að spá í að henda í afsökunarbeiðni á hópinn, alveg svona alvöru afsökunarbeiðni á allan hópinn

Translation, “I was really thinking about writing an apology to the group, a real apology to the whole group.” This song is very reminiscent of our first album, the messiness and the playfulness of punk music. Includes a miked-up microwave of questionable cleanliness to many a sound-engineer chagrin.

Stulli & Rúnar

Our first monster of a song is an ode to joy. An ode to a thought. An ode to the water. An ode to the entitlement of the crown. An ode to Stulli. An ode to Rúnar. Here’s a quarter, go put it in a washing machine.

Frog is king

An evil yet mysterious song with an angular melody and a froggy finish. You’d maybe pair this song with a nice creamy pasta dish and an acidic yet simple salad. We recommend you stay your hand with the salt and pepper and enjoy the pure noisy-sombre dynamic of the song. Bow to The King.

Charlie-Gibbs

Being one of the oldest songs of the album, this track was a kind of gateway for us into the moodier side of music. This song also marks the start of our time-signature shenanigans and our shift toward a more guitar-heavy sound.

Soundbath

An instrumental discourse with a horse.

Kalt á tánum

We dot the i’s of birdnoise with a song about losing control and a melancholic hope to fly. Then, a few dangerously hypnotising minutes of feedback close the record and send you off to your first day of school.