Sigur Rós

“Gobbledigook” by Sigur Ros, from Með Suð I Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust (Beggars Xl Recording):

The most puzzling thing about Sigur Rós is not the lyrics, which, when there are any, are sung by a high-pitched elfin voice in either the band’s native Icelandic or in its native-native Hopelandic (a made-up language consisting of about three syllables: you, sigh and oh). It’s not the music’s formula: glacial tempos, swelling strings, reverberating bowed-electric guitar, toy pianos and Viking drums. It’s not the videos, which have featured actors with Down’s syndrome (“Svefn-g-englar,” 2000); kids in gas masks playing on a postapocalyptic playground (“Untitled 1” 2003); and, for its newest single, the aptly titled “Gobbledigook,” buck-naked, made-for-Abercrombie models frolicking in the woods. What’s most puzzling is that rock fans in the heartland fucking love this shit, leading to two sold-out Uptowns in a row. And if Sigur wants to call its new one Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust and claim that it means “With a buzz in our ears we play endlessly” when we all know it’s really a message to aliens to attack the earth on June 23, 2008, that’s fine. Let the death rays shine, and let the elves play on.