A savage beast has emerged from the fertile foothills and glaciers that brought you the lovable pop stylings of The Sugarcubes and the ethereal grandeur of Sigur Rós. This five-headed hardcore hydra answers to the name of Minus, and it’s safe to say that their sole mission is to demolish every preconceived notion of what Icelandic music should sound like.
Already garnering rave reviews in their homeland and across the Atlantic, Jesus Christ Bobby is this young Reykjavik quintet’s first Stateside release. Their sound, a three-way collision of Refused-like progressive hardcore, Slayer-aping rifftastic bombardment and art-house pretentiousness is, to say the least, one of the most innovative and important statements hardcore music has made in quite some time. From the guttural screams of opener "Chimera" to the acoustic guitar-driven bout of solace that is "Arctic Exhibition", it's obvious that this band has put every ounce of themselves into this round piece of plastic that now sits before you.
The tender savagery of "Liquid Courage" wonderfully encapsulates the band’s sonic manifesto -- its bone-crushing rhythmic patterns and thrashing-yet-sonorous guitar lines providing a solid foundation for the vociferous screamed/sung vocal histrionics of lead singer Krummi. However, it is Minus' spiritual/political elements that will resonate most, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are not just another cookie-cutter hardcore flash-in-the-pan. Lyrics like "Some of us are holy when we choose what we want" ("Peccadillo") and "Geniuses have it/mountain people need it/and politicians want it" ("Electra Complex") exemplify beliefs and intelligence rarely seen in music, let alone in music of this nature. Musically, Minus’ complexities run deep, as the perpetually grinding "Modern Haircuts" and the dueling guitar barrage of "Enver" lose themselves in a sea of shifting song structures and fierce breakdowns. That isn’t to say that it’s all pummeling rhythms and jackhammer riffs round Minus’ way, as the poignant "Arctic Exhibition" and the refined, Deftones-ish strut of "Pulse" will certainly attest. If nothing else, Jesus Christ Bobby is proof that Minus are the chameleons of modern hardcore.
Minus have most definitely arrived on these shores, both to wreak complete and utter havoc and to spread their message of political insurrection and veiled spirituality. One listen to Jesus Christ Bobby and you’ll never be able to look at the country that spawned Björk in quite the same way again.
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