KUKL

KUKL

KUKL was an Icelandic anarcho-punk group in the 1980s, most notable for being one of Björk's first bands. The name translates to "witchcraft" in Medieval Icelandic.

THE EYE (1984)
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The album starts with Assassin, a nice post-punk-track, which reminds me a bit of the Sugarcubes-song "Traitor". But "Assassin" contains a lot more instruments, which makes it sound more powerful. The guitars are all the way backed up by bells and pipes. Einar's vocals are as haunting as always, and Björk's whispering something incomprehensible in the background. The song ends up with a terrible scream, then the album goes on with "Anna". "Anna" is half sung and half spoken. It's got a moody atmosphere and the flutes and drums, makes it sounds a bit folk-song-like. The instrumental parts of the song are extremely beautiful and the chorus is even better. An obvious choice for a video. The third track "Open the window and let the spirit fly free" is an ordinary Björk/Einar-duet, which could have been taken from in fact any Sugarcubes-album. "Moonbath", which is the fourth track, is a quite harmonic piece of work with Björk's beautiful voice, backed up by pipes and bells.
Then the album goes on with "Dismembered", another post-punk-track. The most surprising thing about the song, is the fact that many of the guitar-sounds has been replaced with pipes and bells. "Seagull", the following track is a lot more harmonic, with Björk's beautiful voice, backed up by some spoken lines from Einar. The two least interesting tracks on "The eye" are the two last ones. "The spire" becomes quite annoying and "Handa tjolla" gives us about two minutes of percussion-practise.
"The eye" is quite a simple record, compared to Björk's other works, but the big variety of instruments still makes it interesting. The songs are very Cubes-like, but with a darker, but also more harmonic atmosphere. The record has also got a great artistic value, since it's the beginning of the development of the typical Cubes-sound. Every Björk-fan, or at least every Sugarcubes-fan, should have a copy of "The eye".

1. Assassin
2. Anna
3. Open The Window And Let The Spirit Fly Free
4. Moonbath
5. Dismembered
6. Seagull (Fuglar)
7. The Spire
8. Handa Tjolla

HOLIDAYS IN EUROPE (1986)
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There's quite a big difference between the two KUKL-albums. The songs on "Holidays in Europe" are a lot more complex and the flutes, bells and pipes have been replaced with keyboards and even samples. "Holidays in Europe" is a lot more freaked out and a lot noisier than "The eye". The first track "Psalm 323" is a harmonic song about a departure. "A mutual thrill" is a pretty cool mixture between a pop-song and an experimental post-indie-track. "Copy thy neighbour" and "Just by the book" are two completely amazing tracks, which combines moody rock with powerful keyboard-effects. Pre-industry?
The rest of the album is noisy and completely freaked out. Jamil Sairah's vocal-efforts makes "Zro" a memorable track. "Latent" and "Vials of wrath" are two Björk/Einar-duets where Björk and Einar are taking the rule of an arguing couple. If it wasn't for all the synthesized noises, both songs could have fitted on "Here today, tomorrow next week". The final track "The night" gives us about three minutes of graceful voice-distortions.
"Holidays in Europe" sounds like a Sugarcubes-record, but a lot less commercial and in fact, better. Einar Melax's keyboard-efforts makes "Holidays in Europe" one of my favorite Björk-events. A ground-breaking record. Something you just got to hear to understand.

1. Psalm
2. A Mutual Thrill
3. Copy Thy Neighbour
4. Just by the Book
5. Zro
6. Latent
7. Vials of Wrath
8. The Night