Words by Laura Martin
Sometimes the best music was never meant for our ears. Just as Michael Angelakos’ (Passion Pit to you and me) Chunk of Change was originally a private apology of an EP of songs to his long-suffering girlfriend, so FM Belfast‘s first tracks were a jokey present for their friends. Maybe they were scrimping on Christmas presents, but you’d be pretty happy to end up with their latest album How To Make Friends in your stocking.
FM Belfast’s album has a pleasing lo-fi, recorded-in-their-bedrooms sound. The Icelandic four piece (or more, when their mates join them too) clearly have an 80s Casio-beat obsession, fusing bleepy electro backings with a healthy dose of synths and spoken lyrics on top.
“I Can Feel Love” is a Hot Chip-esque, synth-heavy track with a side portion of cowbell with the affirming “You’re not alone” phrase repeated by Loa, the female singer in the band.
There’s a feeling of wanting to escape in their songs – perhaps they feel the need to flee their tiny homeland. The catchy electro lament “Underwear” quietly states the band’s boredom: “We come from the place/Where we count the days/Until nothing/Until nothing/Until nothing“. Then, there’s the electric dreams about flying away “Par Avion”, the band’s uptempo wish to jet off to the Caribbean, and “Tropical“, a fantasy island tune about “Nelson“, Loa’s exotic holiday romance boyfriend.
With Datarock-sounding scenarios and delivery, the songs have a dry, humorous touch about them, which is something which stops the band from appearing too serious about their tracks.
Their heavy accents make it sound like you’ve walked into your gawky foreign exchange student’s band practise – they’re essentially nerds, but have come full circle to be a hipster band.
Their witty cover of “Pump Up The Jam” is a reduced to a lazy stoners vibe, “Pump”, with the boys politely drawling “Get your booty on the dancefloor/Ow wahh/Make my day“. Rage Against The Machine’s “Killing In The Name Of” gets a similar transformation, with the angry lyrics turned into a sweet “Lotus”.
Although there’s nothing vastly pioneering in the tracks, it’s easy to see why FM Belfast have built up an impressive fanbase in their homeland. They pulled one of the biggest crowds at last year’s Iceland Airwaves festival and with their endearing electro-twee they make a welcome export for the rest of us too. (World Champion Records, 2010)
