Lokbra

The band Lokbra started initially in the year 2000 and consisted of drummer skar and keyboard player Baddi who actually thougth he was a guitarist at that time. The two young men sougth out for all sorts of talent and had tried at least 15 musicians on numerous rehearsals but nothing worked up. Then another young guy named Trausti quit his old band and was musically marooned until the two other young men discovered that. Then through Irc (internet relay chat) on a lonely channel they invited Trausti into the band. Trausti accepted their offer and then the band started their long way to what they are today.
For some time the band was just a name and nothing happened until the Icelandic band Sigur ros went on a tour and Lokbra borrowed their studio for rehearsals. That was a good time and the guys had great fun. Then from that studio, to garage from garage, from factories and all sorts of weird places the band continued. Rehearsing and writing their own material.
There were other people that tried to play with Lokbra and the bands biggest problem was a bassplayer. They needed one, and one guy knew that they needed one. He said one day "im coming for a rehearsal this evening, its nonnegotiable" So he came and at that rehearsal the band wrote their most famous song. Nossirah Egroeg. That guy that wanted to come was Oddur a.k.a Spike and at that point the band was perfect and still remains the same today.
Then the band rehearsed and played a few gigs and eventually competed in Msktilraunir 2003 which is like The battle of the bands. Lokbr got nothing that year but at that point the band started to play every weekends. Every Thursday and almost everytime for months. People slowly begin to recognize the name and since they played so much they became what people called "an experience to see"
Starting on weird sounds with intros, playing through guitars with dictaphones, falling of stages on Wednesdays and even performing old icelandic folkmusic.
Following all the gigs eventually the band tok a breather and ended in a studio with Birgir orn Steinarsson and recorded their song Nossirah Egroeg. With chains, screams, tears and good vibes the band completed the song and sent it to the media. Nossirah Egroeg was a success, came onto popularity lists and made the name of the band bigger.
Today Lokbra are currently working on their second album, musical "Fernando" which will hopefully be released in the year 2008. Their slogan is "never take anything to seriously!".
With their profound style , their funny looks and stage performance they are going somewhere, and that somewhere is everywhere.
"...an army of soundwaves in marching trough your headphones! Deadzone..."
Allmusic.com
Review by Stewart Mason
Lokbrá - Army of Soundwaves
As if the presence of a long-haired shirtless beardy dude on the front cover wasn't enough of a signifier, there's a psychedelic kinship between Iceland's Lokbra and their Scandinavian brethren the Soundtrack of Our Lives and Motorpsycho.
However, with the exception of the epic freakout closer "Nosirrah Egroeg," this quartet puts its progressive rock influences in a more contemporary musical setting: Mercury Rev's brand of neo-psych pop is an equally obvious touchstone on the slower, spacier songs, as is classic-era Radiohead. Meanwhile, harder-rocking songs like "Stop the Music" and the jaunty "Ride the Walrus" feature prominent, almost danceable rhythms that bear some similarity to the current crop of neo-post-punk dance-rockers following in Franz Ferdinand's wake.
The combination of psychedelic guitar and organ textures, modern beats, and unexpected stylistic detours like the mandolin and harmonica-driven "Conference of Rats" makes Army of Soundwaves a fairly unique and entirely enjoyable listen.
Army of Soundwaves
Rating
****
Release Date
Mar 28, 2006
Label
Lucid
Genre Styles
Rock
Indie Rock
Moods Nocturnal Brooding Cerebral Autumnal Intimate Stylish Literate Melancholy Bittersweet Reflective Quirky
"To our surprise, Pjodleikhskjallarinn, what looks like the most overblown building outside Nazi Germany, contains a teeny weeny jazz club-tinged basement where we stumble over another amazing band by the name of Lokbrs. These kids know how to make us happy. The little runt of a singer has all the Zeppelin IV Zoso symbols tattooed on his scrawny pigeon chest and the drummer's hair's so long it gets all muddled up with his sticks.
Inspired by classic and prog rock these guys play some of the longest songs of the festival. Ten minutes long and sometimes overly convoluted melody patters blast out of the groups' speakers, but there's something so genuine going on here and it poops on most other groups so far. Apart from the tunes these kids dress so bad, it's inspiring. Five out of five vodkas."
-dr.Rock-
www.playlouder.com
"Lokbra - Army of Soundwaves (Lucid)
set up the light show - my pick of the week is this Haight-Ashbury sound from an Icelandic quartet - swirling in space-journey jams and spooky white boy soul like a spinning Grateful Dead dancer tripping to chipper British invasion melodies, the Stranglers, Jane's Addiction, and the Verve"
-anchoragepress.com- - John M. James
Lokbrá - Army of Soundwaves (Lucid Records)
Reviewed by Mark Oster
Here at Badresa, we don't review too many records from Reykjavik. But Lokbrá's debut album is getting sent around stateside by Lake County's Lucid Records, so, into our lap it falls. But yeah, they are from Iceland...
Now that the collection of listeners that get their wallets out as soon as they read the word "Reykjavik" have moved on to Interpunk, I can tell the more discerning of you what this album is about. Frankly, it's pretty good, but in a different way than you usually expect from the island nation. With Moog and delayed Fender Telecaster, they explore the atmosphere of sound, much like Sigur Rós, however, their music is further rooted in the 70s than even the admittedly Eno-esque Rós. Lokbrá gets it& muse from the more soulful and progressive aspect of the decade, recalling "Some Girls" era Stones, "Abbey Road" era Beatles, Pink Floyd, Yes, and a host of others over the course of the hourlong album, often smoothly jumping from one to another over the course of a song. But Lokbrá hardly comes off as self-indulgent, remaining tuneful and catchy throughout, with melodic, somewhat spacey, vocals, not unlike an Icelandic David Gilmour, soar above in broken but clear English. I don't think those who left us earlier to buy the album are going to be disappointed, but I would also recommend it for fans of modern revivalist acts ranging from My Morning Jacket all the way to The Mars Volta.
www.badresa.com