How Three Days in Reykjavik Reinvigorated My Love of the Sugarcubes and Bjork

Post pandemic I feel like I’m in a really weird funk. I’m itching to go places I’ve always wanted to go to and do all the things on my bucket list. Nothing is taken for granted anymore. So, when I booked my ticket through Icelandair, they give you the option to stay in Reykjavik for a couple of nights. I have been wanting to do the stopover in Reykjavik with Icelandair for a long time but finally decided to do that this year. The only thing I really knew about Iceland was the Blue Lagoon and that it was home to one of my favorite bands as a teenager- the Sugarcubes.  

The Sugarcubes were so influential to me as a teenager. I remember first hearing about them through their Elektra label mates- the Cure’s Robert Smith. Robert had mentioned the Sugarcubes as one of his favorite new bands in a 1987 issue of Star Hits (the American equivalent of the British magazine Smash Hits). When I heard and saw their music videos, I was blown away. They were so different from any other alternative band in the late ‘80s at the time. Their sound was so unusual, their lyrics were so unusual, and their look was so unusual. When they were the music guest on Saturday Night Live in 1988, Bjork wore a dress and leggings that looked like something out of a 1970s David Bowie video or a science fiction movie- a silver metallic dress with black shiny leggings, a large watch necklace, and big barrette in her hair. As she belted out the lyrics to “Birthday” and “Motocrash” in a high octane Liz Fasieresque (Cocteau Twins) fashion I remember thinking -Who was this girl that fronted this band? 

As the ‘80s ended and the ‘90s began, the Sugarcubes would go onto release two more albums. I watched all of their music videos and took notes of Bjork’s super unique style which was like nothing I had ever seen before. When the Sugarcubes disbanded in 1992, and Bjork went solo, that’s when the mainstream began to sit up and take notice. I bought Bjork’s albums throughout the mid ‘90s and took note of her bold fashion choices and dynamic videos. In 2000, she collaborated with Thom Yorke for her Academy Award nominated song, “I’ve Seen It All,” from the movie Dancer in the Dark to which she also starred. I just fell in love with her all over again after that collaboration. Then, sometime in the mid and late 2000s, I just lost touch with Bjork and I don’t know why. Maybe it was the period of time where Jessica and Ashlee Simpson were being pushed on us along with intolerable reality TV.  The war in Iraq? Lack of a decent alternative local radio station that would play someone like Bjork? All I know is that I lost touch with Bjork and the magic of the Sugarcubes until a few weeks ago. 

On the flight to Reykjavik, the music section was filled with selections from Icelandic artists like Sigur Ros, Sugarcubes, and Bjork. Of course, I gravitated toward the Sugarcubes and Bjork albums I was most familiar with or that brought back good memories of being young. Upon walking around Reykjavik, we discovered the Icelandic Punk Museum. The Icelandic Punk Museum (which are actually converted public toilets)- a tiny museum which explains the history of punk in Iceland. Upon the entrance, was a picture of none other than the Sugarcubes. I knew I had to go into this weird little D.I.Y. museum and it did not disappoint. I learned some interesting things about Einar (like he studied art in London) who was a member of the Sugarcubes who used to share vocal duties with Bjork and play the trumpet. Most notably Einar was known for upstaging Bjork but Bjork never seemed to mind. There were some pointed comments about Bjork leaving the band because of her interest in electronic and house music. (Well, it was a punk rock museum after all.)

A flood of memories came back in that tiny museum. One of my favorite things to do as a teenager was to tape 120 Minutes and PostModern MTV on our VCR. (Remember those?) because MTV relegated their alternative music videos to late night hours where most people were asleep. I used to look forward to the summers when I could watch it in real time. The women artists and bands that had women in them were some of my favorites: Siouxsie and the Banshees, Kate Bush, 10,000 Maniacs (before Natalie Merchant went solo), Sugarcubes (before Bjork went solo), Sonic Youth (When Kim and Thurston were happily married), the Cocteau Twins and the list went on and on. I was so sad when I came home from college one weekend in 1992 and realized Dave Kendall, the host of 120 Minutes, had left the show. By this time, Nirvana had exploded. PostModern MTV morphed into Alternative Nation. All the alternative bands that I loved like the Teenage Fanclub, Lush, and the Jesus and Mary Chain, even old standbys like Depeche Mode and the Cure, were replaced by Nirvana sound-alikes.  They tried to make Kurt Cobain an unlikely spokesperson for Gen X (it didn’t work). 

Bjork went solo in 1993- one year after the Sugarcubes broke up. Also that year, Nirvana released In Utero, the follow up to their smash Nevermind. A year later, Kurt Cobain committed suicide. It seemed liked the whole alternative scene imploded on itself within an accelerated time period of three years. Like Kurt Cobain, Bjork had punk roots but she never compromised her artistic vision.

Upon exiting the museum, I felt like my creative D.I.Y. teenage self was reignited. I wanted to go to the independent record store, the thrift shop, the coffee shop. Bjork and the Sugarcubes made me feel like all things were possible for quirky and unconventional women.  Afterall, even after the rise and fall of grunge, Bjork persevered and continued to do her own thing, her way.  All I that know is post pandemic, I feel like a survivor and so much is possible. Like Bjork sang on her album Debut, “There’s more to life than this.”