So anyway, one afternoon I was walking around in the light snow when I came across a record shop called 12 Tonar. So naturally I walk in to have a browse. The bloke working there pours out a coffee from a freshly brewed pot and offers me a cup. I don’t think that he was going to charge me for it but I politely decline anyway knowing that if I accepted I would feel obligated to buy something even if there was nothing I wanted. As I expected there was a large section on Icelandic music, most of which I'd never heard of. One CD that really caught my attention was called The Curse, the Life, the Blood by a band called Singapore Sling. As I pick it up the bloke who works there told me that it’s a collection of their first three albums. I ask him what they’re like.
“They’re really good. I’ve seen them play lots of times. They really go for it, you know. They sound a lot like the Jesus And Mary Chain and The Velvet Underground. That kind of thing. Feel free to have a listen,” he tells me.
So I go to the listening area which is a few cheep boom boxes with cheep headphones. There are a couple of other people sitting on sofas, drinking coffee and wading through CDs. I put Singapore Sling on and yes I can tell straight away that they're a band very much influenced by The Jesus And Mary Chain and The Velvet Underground. But even with the cheap audio equipment the first song Overdriver leaps out and sounds great. It’s the mark of a great song, Satisfaction and Gimme Shelter still sound amazing coming out of a pocket radio. A minute into the next song My Life Is Killing My Rock ‘n’ Roll and I’ve heard enough, so I go to the counter and buy it.
Get Singapore Sling: Overdriver mp3 Here
