There has been a buzz about Iceland for some time now. Björk's huge success has ensured it musical recognition, while numerous travel articles have told of Arctic hedonism and frantic all-night fun. Damon Albarn, an early champion of the place, liked Reykjavik so much that he bought a share in a bar there. The Icelandic band Bellatrix, too, are beneficiaries of his patronage, having supported Blur on tour.
They have returned the compliment by relocating to London in search of commercial glory. "It's good to be home," beams their engaging singer, Eliza. "We live here now."
It's not clear how long they will continue to grace small venues like the Embassy Rooms, however, for there is no reason why their buzzsaw guitar pop should not now find a wider audience. They have released several albums in Iceland on the label set up by the Sugarcubes, the indie band that first brought Björk to international recognition. They bear similarities to that group's off-centre pop, though they embellish it with Chemical Brothers-style drum beats and the folk-ish violin over tones. Playing new material, all sung in unaccented English, they come across as a poppy, Arctic arm of the now-defunct riot grrl movement (the gender ratio of the five-piece is summed up by singer Eliza's question to fellow band members, "Are you ready, girls and boy?"). Their basic appeal can be found in the chorus to A Sting: "You make me wanna jump/You make me wanna shout."
Eliza, who trained as an opera singer, has an expressive voice and engaging mannerisms; it is hard to avoid comparisons with Björk, and she is not shamed by them. Most songs begin with various squelchy dance noises, but then settle down into a more conventional guitar-pop structure. As the song Happy Go Lucky testifies, these are feelgood tunes well-suited to live performance.
The band themselves seem aware of impending success. They have an air of attention-seeking about them, generally expressed self-deprecatingly. The keyboard player jokingly tells the audience it will have to plead for an encore; Eliza introduces their cover song All Together Now with self-mocking immodesty, placing Bellatrix in line with Bowie and the Beatles. Even the drummer gets in on the act, demanding his share of the limelight with the dreadful novelty song Oh, I'm So Hungry.
The only place you will find Bellatrix next to Bowie and the Beatles is in the record shop - once their forthcoming album has been released. But their spiky melodies will keep Iceland well placed on the musical map.
