Review / 200 Words Or Less
Lockerbie
Ólgusjór

Kapitän Platte (2012) — Sarah

Lockerbie – Ólgusjór cover artwork
Lockerbie – Ólgusjór — Kapitän Platte, 2012

I'll admit, I wasn't expecting to enjoy this album quite as much as I did. Though it's not perfect, Lockerbie's 2011 release Ólgusjór is something that pretty much everyone will find something to like about.

They have the same kitschy Icelandic appeal and post-rock sound of Sigur Rós combined with the accessibility and songwriting of Coldplay. There are tons of bright pianos and synthesized brass; short, versechorus songs; predictable, gratifying melodies; and swelling cathartic buildups to be found on this album. Basically nothing that could possibly be abrasive to the senses.

The only major issue with it is that it tends to get a bit repetitive. There isn't a lot of change up in the sound on the album, and after forty minutes of it, you can get a bit sick of it. Then again, that tends to be a matter of personal taste; if that sounds like your thing, more power to you.

Though there isn't a lot of challenging material here, Ólgusjór is nonetheless a really enjoyable experience. If you need a nice, laid-back album to listen to that still has emotional movement, look no further.

6.5 / 10 — Sarah • July 19, 2012

Lockerbie – Ólgusjór cover artwork
Lockerbie – Ólgusjór — Kapitän Platte, 2012

Recently-posted album reviews

Contention

Nuclear Summer
Daze (2026)

Contention, I would argue, has spent the last few years at or near the top of the heap of the return to 90's styled Straight Edge Metalcore. I am being specific because there is no mistaking Contention's influences nor their message. This is a STRAIGHT EDGE band that is far more indebted to Morning Again that anything that uses a … Read more

A Secret Revealed

The Ruin I Summoned Forth
Lifeforce (2026)

There are albums that use heaviness as an assault and others that use it to create an atmosphere. On The Ruin I Summoned Forth, A Secret Revealed manage to does both. The German quintet’s fourth full-length is an enormous, bleak piece of post-metal, but calling it post-metal only gets you part of the way there. Black metal cuts through its … Read more

Time Spent Driving

Lost Leaves
Thirty Something Records (2026)

There's a particular challenge facing bands that came out of the late '90s and early '00s emo scene. You can recreate the sound people remember and risk becoming your own nostalgia act, or you can abandon it entirely and risk losing whatever made the band matter in the first place. Time Spent Driving choose neither on Lost Leaves. More than … Read more