Sin Fang Bous

Sindri Már Sigfússon of Iceland’s Seabear has constructed a very impressive debut album under the pseudonym Sin Fang Bous. Clangor possesses an experimental folksy playfulness that makes the 23-year-old Sigfússon seem experienced beyond his years. Combined with layers of Sonic-2-for-Sega-Genesis-like laptop blips, glitches and bleeps and a slew of other instruments, the young gun has established himself as one of the front runners for indie rookie of the year.

Sigfússon's influences are numerous and a bit difficult to pin down. Clangor has the folk sensibility of Badly Drawn Boy’s The Hour of Bewilderbeast, the digital computer sucrose drone of early Múm and the bedroom/headphone introspection of Belle and Sebastian’s The Boy with the Arab Strap. Songs like “We Belong” and “The Jubilee Chorus” could be likened to Panda Bear or a Michigan-era Sufjan Stevens - folk introspection paralleled with a computer-generated wall of lush sound, a familiar concept with limitless possibilities. The finger plucking of the album's semi-title track “Clangor and Flutes” succeeds in remaining at the forefront of various dubbed vocal layers, wood winds, odd percussion and samples of what appears to be the blowing wind, keeping a sense of intrigue that could easily slip into obscure apathy.

Most of Sigfússon's transitions are seamless and the grandeur of instrumental variety give Clangor a welcoming unpredictability. Instrumentally, Sigfússon is ahead of his age. Lyrically, he comes up short. Most notably on “Lies” - “She's the sun when I'm rain/ but it was all ugly shouting again” sounds like a journal entry from My So-Called Life character Brian Krakow after a botched attempt at social interaction with Angela Chase. Often, cliché’s of failed romantic endeavors and frustrations with his surrounding environment occupy Sigfússon's lyrical efforts. Overtime though, good things will come not only from Sigfússon’s musicality but from the maturity of his lyrical experience.

by: Bene Garcia

" />Listen To: Sin Fang Bous "Clangor" | The Rathaus

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Listen To: Sin Fang Bous “Clangor”

November 11, 2009 Art, The Rathaus

Sin Fang Bous

Sindri Már Sigfússon of Iceland’s Seabear has constructed a very impressive debut album under the pseudonym Sin Fang Bous. Clangor possesses an experimental folksy playfulness that makes the 23-year-old Sigfússon seem experienced beyond his years. Combined with layers of Sonic-2-for-Sega-Genesis-like laptop blips, glitches and bleeps and a slew of other instruments, the young gun has established himself as one of the front runners for indie rookie of the year.

Sigfússon’s influences are numerous and a bit difficult to pin down. Clangor has the folk sensibility of Badly Drawn Boy’s The Hour of Bewilderbeast, the digital computer sucrose drone of early Múm and the bedroom/headphone introspection of Belle and Sebastian’s The Boy with the Arab Strap. Songs like “We Belong” and “The Jubilee Chorus” could be likened to Panda Bear or a Michigan-era Sufjan Stevens – folk introspection paralleled with a computer-generated wall of lush sound, a familiar concept with limitless possibilities. The finger plucking of the album’s semi-title track “Clangor and Flutes” succeeds in remaining at the forefront of various dubbed vocal layers, wood winds, odd percussion and samples of what appears to be the blowing wind, keeping a sense of intrigue that could easily slip into obscure apathy.

Most of Sigfússon’s transitions are seamless and the grandeur of instrumental variety give Clangor a welcoming unpredictability. Instrumentally, Sigfússon is ahead of his age. Lyrically, he comes up short. Most notably on “Lies” – “She’s the sun when I’m rain/ but it was all ugly shouting again” sounds like a journal entry from My So-Called Life character Brian Krakow after a botched attempt at social interaction with Angela Chase. Often, cliché’s of failed romantic endeavors and frustrations with his surrounding environment occupy Sigfússon’s lyrical efforts. Overtime though, good things will come not only from Sigfússon’s musicality but from the maturity of his lyrical experience.

by: Bene Garcia

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