FORMED: 1995, Reykjavik, Iceland
Iceland: so much to answer for. Since Blur and Jarvis Cocker gave it their seal of approval, the island previously best-known for sagas, puffins and having the same name as a supermarket has become the hippest island in Europe (sorry Cool Britannia) and there's been no shortage of quirky bands jumping the Bjork bandwagon. GusGus, on the other hand, would be remarkable even if they came from Basildon. This Is Normal is the title of GusGus's second album, but don't be fooled. This nine-piece group is far from normal.
This Is Normal is an inspired collision of otherworldly pop, glacial soul and bubbling techno. Listen to the way the chunky deep house of 'Very Important People' gives way to the orchestral tearjerker, 'Bambi'. Or the way an album that starts sounding like the Happy Mondays humping Prince ('Ladyshave') ends with a heartbroken croon over the sound of a ticking clock ('Dominique'). No wonder the band can count Madonna, Massive Attack, Beck, the Beastie Boys, Nellee Hooper and David Byrne among their fans.
GusGus were always bound to be unconventional. In Iceland the cost of living is phenomenal (a pint of beer costs ?) and multiple jobs are the norm. The nine members, aged between 19 and 33, come from all areas of Reykjavik life:, a pop star, an actor, a DJ, a photographer, a computer programmer, two directors, a politician and a teen star. Everyone has their part to play, and the more the songs mutate the better they become. "Usually something happens that we couldn't foresee," says songwriter Siggi. "It's all accidental."
In fact it was only through a happy accident that GusGus happened at all. In the spring of 1995 music video directors Siggi Kjartansson and Stefan Arni decided to make a short film, called Pleasure, about partner-swapping in Reykjavik. "We've all probably slept with the same girls," explains Siggi. "It's a small community." They set about assembling a cast and crew from people they knew in the city. Daniel Agust had been a pop star since the age of 18, with his band Nydonsk, and was performing in musicals and dubbing US cartoons into Icelandic. Magnus Jonsson was an actor in films and commercials. Baldur Stefansson, now the band's manager, was campaign manager for Iceland's Labour Party. Biggi Thorarinsson was developing virtual reality software and with DJ Herb Legowitz he formed dance duo T-WORLD, who released a smokin' hot promo on the label run by Underworld's Darren Emerson. Alfred More was a photographer and aspiring DJ. And Hafdis Huld was still at school, singing in the church choir.
When shooting of the film was postponed, songwriters Daniel and Siggi suggested that they make an album. They took the band name from Rainer Werner Fassbinder's film Fear Eats The Soul, in which a prostitute makes the best spicy cous cous (she pronounces it "gus gus") in the neighbourhood. "It's about a strange relationship between making good food and having sex," Daniel explains. "Those basic elements of life: making food, making music and making love. It's a holy triangle." The album was completed in a hectic eleven days. "We weren't a band until we got signed," Daniel stresses. "We were just people who had made a record." Siggi laughs: "I wanted to make films and stop hanging around pop groups, but we turned into one."
GusGus released the album, Polydistortion, in Iceland in late 1995, and a copy found its way to the A&R man from London indie label 4AD, famed a decade ago as the home of the Pixies and the Cocteau Twins. 4AD liked what they heard and their attention to design perfectly suited Gus Gus's emphasis on visual style, from their sleeve art to their live shows. Polydistortion was eventually released on 4AD in Spring 1997 to widespread critical acclaim. It sounded like techno, hip hop and funk rerouted by a band with a natural flair for storytelling, melody and soul.
This Is Normal comes from a different set of circumstances. In 1997 GusGus toured Europe and America with openers such as Lamb and Cornershop. Herb has become the "invisible" member, joining Alfred and Biggi as the band's remixing arm, reworking Depeche Mode's "Only When I Lose Myself" last year, amongst others. Alfred has also DJed across the world and with Bjork he promotes Heartbeat, a monthly night in Reykjavik. Daniel has appeared on an album by Florida producer Q Burn's Abstract Message. GusGus has set up a successful fashion imprint and a record label, Elf 19, to release a variety of Icelandic offspring.
This Is Normal is the sound of a band who have worked out what makes them special, learning from the past with their gaze firmly fixed on the future. "Some people thought we were a pretentious arty-farty bunch from Iceland," says Daniel. "I think this album is pop. We made an effort to make it accessible and have fun doing it."
With GusGus, dance music isn't just tagged on to the songs - it's integral to them. You can hear everything from Carl Craig and Masters At Work to Sly Stone and Prince in these grooves. It's all about contrast: spectral vocals over filthy funk, or stark, sub-zero electro alongside vocals melting with emotion. 'Anthem' (the current DJ promo reclaimed from Darren Emerson's label), and 'Purple' (brilliantly remixed by Sasha last year) reveal their pure dancefloor side. Siggi: "The one thing all the songs have in common is a sound that's interesting to us, which means something we haven't heard anywhere before. Sometimes it happens in one afternoon and sometimes it takes months."
Lyrically too, GusGus are never predictable. The hormone-crazed, tongue-in-cheek 'Ladyshave' is about a sexual fetish (work it out) and Daniel calls it the album's main "below the belt song". At the opposite end of the scale there's 'Starlovers'. Daniel: "It's about being a teenager and looking up to pop stars and idols instead of believing in yourself." The tender, beautiful 'Bambi' and 'Dominique' speak for themselves: the peak and trough of a love affair. There's humour, sex, emotion and psychology at work here. Daniel sees the album like a film. "Each element plays a role but it's not the main thing. The plot is the main thing, and the twists in the plot."
If you're feeling uninspired by 1999's musical crop, follow GusGus's twists and turns and hear the sound of nine different musical minds getting together. It's the brainy horny heartbreak electro funk party album of the year. This Is Normal is anything but.
