Albums
< Jakobinarina
The First Crusade
words by Zoe Bryn
On Fridays The Cure are in love. And Icelandic septet Jakobinarina can no doubt concur with that as their debut album opens with ‘Monday I’m In Vain’: a tumbling punk spat song of frustration about having “nothing to look forward to until next Friday, because there will be a dance revolution.” Sound familiar to you, personally? Of course it does, because it’s the biggest cliché that we have to live with and one that has appeared on every washed out, teenage angst record since year zero. But let’s momentarily allow it in Jako’s case. They are, after all, a group of 18 year olds. And what else are 6 almost-post-pubescent bored kids going to sing about if it’s not how everything is shit? Alas, this is the reoccurring angle of ‘The First Crusade’, although it is an angle that is articulated somewhat perfectly and intellectually via singer Gunnar’s lyrics. “Jump around to mediocrity,” he orders through ‘17’, presumably dousing us with irony, as Jakobinarina are obviously no mediocre pop band. ‘This Is An Advertisement’ meanwhile goes on to see Gunnar claim that his band would “even change our name to The Coca-Cola Band, if it meant getting our pockets filled”, before the angry yoof begs, “please please please spit me in the eye” on the closing ‘Spit Me In The Eye’.
Yeah, Jakobinarina are pretty fucked off. And yet, rather oddly, ‘The First Crusade’ fails to rally a sense of outsider unity that makes you think ‘we’re in this together’. Which, if you’re going to hate everything, is pretty essential.
Whereas a teenager in 2007 can still relate to The Smiths’ ‘Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now’, songs like ‘Monday I’m In Vain’ make you wish that someone would just slap this snotty nosed kid into the middle of tomorrow to shut him up. Perhaps this is due to Gunnar’s abrasive European accent, which is difficult to digest for a full album. But let their hormones settle and Jako could be special.
6/10
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