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Dyrdin are an Icelandic act who were formed in 1994, and their album comes in one of the tastiest looking sleeves you could imagine. Indeed, it's hard to pick up this CD and take a quick peek at those cherries without wanting to nip to the fridge for a quick treat.
Unfortunately, the music isn't quite so tasty. The blurb says that one of the bands that Dyrdin have been compared to is Tallulah Gosh, which didn't exactly set my heart alight, seeing as Tallulah Gosh's eponymous 45 is a serious contender for my least favourite single of the 80s. And whilst there's nothing quite that bad here, what you get is just less than half an hour's worth of twee 80s style indie pop. And whilst I personally think that the C86 movement had its moments and is unfairly un-maligned these days, I must admit I don't exactly find myself rushing home to put on a Mighty Lemon Drops LP. And as there isn't anything on this set that wasn't done better twenty years ago, it all seems rather, well, pointless.
Because whilst I'm all for tinny organs and jangly guitars, ultimately there isn't one song here that is melodically strong enough to remember afterwards. To make matters worse the female singer's voice has very little going for it, particularly on Snjófólk and Wake Up where the word "tuneless" starts springing to mind. That's not to say this is album is a total disaster – the opener Popp & Co has a certain charm and an almost Wild Swans feel to it, Prins í álögum features one of the better riffs here, and Hvert í hoppandi at least has a little more spunk about it. But even as someone who loves The Ramones first LP, I feel duty bound to point out that the sameness here gets rather wearing. And when you read that Dyrdin's name apparently translates as The Glory, you can't help thinking that this is almost as misleading as the cover.
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