Words by Nate Abernethy
Photos by Skúli Pálmason

After we spent the first few days of the festival discovering a whole batch of our favorite new bands straight from the heart of Iceland, we carried on and were delighted by the foreign exports that stole our hearts and a final defiant statement to the world from another of Iceland’s own.

Zhala

Perhaps best known for being the first signee to Swedish pop queen Robyn’s label Konichiwa Records, Zhala possesses an otherworldly quality and that wonderful weirdness carried over into her live performance. Greeted by a casually lounging naked lady and a bandana wearing dude who did little other than squirm like a snake and make me highly uncomfortable, the whole presentation initially felt like a low rent theatrical production by that perpetually stoned kid who only bothers to show up for art class (if you don’t know that kid, you might be that kid). While indeed perhaps the only presentation more pretentious than The Knife’s farewell (we’ll get to that later), as soon as Zhala took the stage I was enamored.

Formerly a backup singer to Lykke Li, the stylistic parallels between the two are abundant and obvious, but Zhala surpasses her mentors with an unbridled and bold sound. With thundering club heavy tracks like “Prophet,” which builds into an absurd explosion of momentum, or the comparatively minimalist hit “I’m In Love,” Zhala occasionally delves into the electro pop pleasantries of Grimes or Purity Ring. But the majority of Zhala’s set struck me more as a kind of tribal psychedelia that revealed where she truly shines. “Slippin Around” in particular emerged as my absolute favorite, with its haunting wails as she practically swallows the microphone with an encompassing and extraterrestrial vocal force. Zhala is assuredly bound to be the next Swedish sensation.

Girl Band

Girl Band is the best band I saw at Iceland Airwaves. No question. I arrived early to Gaukurinn, the punk center of the festival right as the Dublin four piece clambered onto stage. Frontman Dara Kiely looks anywhere but at the audience as he tugs frantically at his shirt and launches into “De Bom Bom.” Guitar feedback purposely screeches over the drums while Kiely seems to just ooze and mumble lyrics as if they’re unworthy of his effort before he blurts out a tirade of chorus, like a childish tantrum, with “The Cha Cha Cha.”

The crowd ate it up, as song after song Girl Band just got better and better. The borderline unnerving track “Lawman” kicked off with a deliciously fuzzed out bass that drives the track forward as a wavering guitar plays catch up with a truly ghastly mindfuck of sound. The group possesses a seemingly never ending spectrum of influences and experimentations as evidenced by their Chemical Brothers cover from the criminally underrated Hana soundtrack. A brilliantly whiney and spastically spooky noise rock band that seems to churn out exclusively masterpieces; never has dread sounded so fun.

The Knife

The time has come to bid farewell to The Knife. All good things must come to an end and you’re damn right we were there to witness the final moments. More a Richard Simmons aerobics video on acid than a typical performance, ever since they started performing live The Knife has thrived on the chaos of the theatric. The engagement of the crowd matched with the genuine enthusiasm the performers bring makes it feel more as if you’re an invitee to the most bizarre and fun party rather than a mere observer.

The electro duo’s live performance previously invited its fair share of criticism with the open and obvious vocal swapping and minimal instrumentation, but really would you rather have a smokescreen of button pushing than a truly immersive circus act? While I counted at least a few of my own involuntary eye rolls at the mantra citing MC that introduced The Knife, overall it was a sight and an experience to behold. If this is truly the end of The Knife it was a great ride and a real pleasure to see them go out on top.

Retro Stefson

Not to be outshone by their neighboring musicians, Iceland churned out one final act in Retro Stefson, wowing us with a genre mashing collective of boogie down dance tunes. There’s certainly something retro at work about the group besides their namesake, but it all feels delivered in a fresh and new way. As the show started up, both  “Glow” and “She Said” carried a shameless late ’80s vibe that catered to a modern age. I it swear immediately gave me flashbacks to a certain Belgian hit we all know too well. I’ve encountered some of the last things you’d expect to find on a freezing Nordic island, including some intriguing reggae, and Retro Stefson seem determined to combine the most obscure domestic and worldly influences to create a throwback sound that is simultaneously all their own.

As the show continued to build energy I focused in on the voice belting through the crowd.  Bounding and prancing across the stage with ease and seemingly endless energy, vocalist and guitarist Unnsteinn Manuel Stefánsson might be the most commanding and dynamic frontman we’ve seen since Dez McFarlane of The OBGMs. In particular I enjoyed joints like “Qween” with so many glorious bleeps and bloops you wouldn’t be able to hear R2-D2 bumping and grinding next to you and transcendent moments like “Solaris”, a sinfully synthy delight that floats through your bones so effortlessly is feels cast down from the clouds on high. With a collaborative and timeless energy and sound, the sky truly is the limit for this retro pop sensation.

Nate Abernethy is a magical sprite we captured and forced to write for us (and occasionally loan out toLoser City). He somehow also wound up with a twitter account @NateAbernethy