Every other lost band is a “super-group” that deserved a better future.  In most cases, I’m the first enthusiast in such artifact recoveries.  Maybe the emotion is linked to the remnants of my childhood dream to become an archeologist, but I’m rarely the first one to uncover anything…sometimes though, the spell just doesn’t work.  Not all obscure bands from the Sixties were unrecognized geniuses.  Some were just good bands, that’s it.  It’s the case here with this “super-group” from Iceland.  The label describes this as a super-group because TrĂąbrot was the combination of two Icelandic groups; Hljòmar and Flowers.  But this is Iceland, an isolated piece of volcano in the middle of an ocean and before the World Wide Web.  Founded in 1969, this band didn’t get much international coverage in an era where it was almost impossible to export your music if you were singing in an obscure language.  So it’s hard to refer to the sound of these two bands.  Sure hippies, were into Lord of the Rings and all of that, but TrĂąbrot is no Sigur Ròs, nor Bjork.
Even if I was not seduced by the history or the music on this record, I have to admit that it’s entrusted with good musical ideas, exploring different genres, trying to find a different path.  The music of Trùbrot brings to mind the likes of Frank Zappa or Tigerlilies.  Even if I don’t speak Icelandic, I kind of grasped an inherent humor in most of these songs, a humor that positions Trùbrot as a predecessor of certain underground French rock bands from late Seventies, part of the whole Rock In Opposition movements, and more particularly Etron Fou Leloublan.  Vocals are shared by a male/female duo, sometimes theatrical, bordering on cabaret mannerism (hence the Tigerlilies reference).  Two songs are sung in English, part of the bonus tracks added to the original material.  Blending elements of rock, folk, jazz and pop music, they sure sound like they had a lot of fun recording this.  More than I had listening to it.
5 /10
