Stinky Artists

Iceland’s dark masters of avant-garage Singapore Sling return to center stage with “Life Is Killing My Rock ‘N’ Roll”, the blistering follow-up to their critically acclaimed debut album, 2003’s “The Curse of Singapore Sling”.

Released on Stinky Records in September of 2004, “Life Is Killing My Rock ‘N’ Roll” reflects a fusion of sonic and songwriting visions that is uniquely Singapore Sling’s. The album brims with hook-laden, psychedelic-cum-garage pop gems evocative of the tough guy side of the 60’s British Invasion and America’s response: Rolling Stones, Them, Pretty Things; Standells, Seeds, Sonics. This writing is married with the brute, raw power the band introduced on their debut album, both brought into razor-sharp focus through forward-thinking production values. Where “The Curse of Singapore Sling” mounts an anarchic all-out sonic assault, “Life Is Killing My Rock ‘N’ Roll” deliberately applies determined discipline to harness that wild energy. Singapore Sling’s music also reverberates with the postpunk manifestos of Suicide, the Stooges and The Velvet Underground, all among the band’s chief musical heroes.

“Life Is Killing My Rock ‘N’ Roll” was recorded throughout the Winter and Spring of 2004 at Reykjavik’s highly-regarded Thule Studios with Singapore Sling frontman/songwriter/guitarist Henrik Björnsson producing. Most sessions took place against the backdrop of arctic climes round-the-clock darkness (due to Iceland’s close proximity the to Arctic Circle).

Cuts like the title track burst with snarling vocals, primal drum beats, hypnotically wailing keyboards and of course Singapore Sling’s signature feedback-besotted wall-of-guitars. “Curse Curse Curse” is an unabashed, rump-shaking, manic pop thrill, marked by an especially penetrative lead guitar hook and propulsive percussion. Intricate keyboards provide additional texture – and, in some instances, menace – throughout the album, most notably on “Guiding Light” to which Johann Johannsson (of celebrated Icelandic art-rock group Apparat Organ Quartet) lends his considerable keyboard talents. Inspired in part by a heavy dietary staple of horror flicks and the brain-frying effects of copious long-distance driving throughout North American while touring, the lyrical content of “Life Is Killing My Rock ‘N’ Roll” depicts a nihilistic, renegade world of joyrides, zombies, casual mayhem and devil-may-care self-destruction.

Singapore Sling formed in Spring of 2000 and garnered critical plaudits and attention for their appearances at the 2001 and 2002 Iceland Airwaves Festivals. In late 2002, Singapore Sling released their debut “The Curse of Singapore Sling” in Iceland on the now-defunkt Edda/Hitt Records. In June of 2003, Stinky Records released this album throughout North America, garnering extensive critical raves and widespread college and commercial radio play. “The Curse of Singapore Sling” at once celebrates and cross-pollinates the diverse, ambitious artistic vision of the best of the early Creation Records roster, running the gamut from the Jesus and Mary Chain to Primal Scream to My Bloody Valentine to Swervedriver. An odyssey into the underbelly of rock music, the album launches with the dark and unabashedly sexy "Overdriver", shifting into the Phil Spector-esque "Summer Garden", and then into the menacing, grooving guitar riff of "Nuthin' Ain't Bad". Other highlight tracks include "Listen", which is featured in a videoclip that includes the band performing with the accompaniment of a bevy of bikini-clad dancing girls tapped from the Icelandic female volleyball league.

Singapore Sling have toured North America extensively, including a headline appearance at New York’s Central Park Summerstage Festival, supporting duties on The Raveonettes’ West Coast Summer 2003 tour, and sold-out appearances as part of Stinky Records’ showcases at the 2003 and 2004 CMJ Music Festivals and at the 2004 South By Southwest Music Festival. The band also co-headlined the 2003 Iceland Airwaves Festival together with The Kills, and co-headlined the 2004 Iceland Airwaves Festival together with The Shins.

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