Of Monsters and Men "My Head is an Animal" [2011]

The only logical explanation how Of Monsters and Men got signed is that Bjork must have babysat them. Otherwise, this overblown pajama party of chubby Icelandikes would most likely have stayed local, with Edward Snowden the only American to call ahead in order to get on the guest list. Apparently, beard-rock has made it to even the most obscure realms of Europe, however, as Of Monsters and Men clearly attest: "My Head is an Animal" is paint-by-numbers overdub-abused campfire music with a grown-ass woman singing like she's a little girl, as if the Cranberries decided to slum it in Iceland and write some songs with soccer chants in them. The overall effect is flabby, unflattering and pretty gross, with the insistent, repetitive, childlike sing-songy melodies clinging like so much hickory smoke in your dirty hair. The 20-teens aren't shaping up very well for the music industry; perhaps the protruding beer bellies of these pastey-white half-eskimos are a pretty accurate image describing where popular music is in 2011 -- the result of overindulgence, laziness and the palate of a kindergartener. And they can be exercised away with enough diligence and focus, because they aren't at all healthy, and they sure aren't attractive.