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The word “Americana” comes up a lot in Of Monsters and Men’s press coverage, despite the fact the band hails from Iceland. Apparently, “Icelandicana” is not a thing. In any case, that lazily applied label is shorthand for the kind of indie-pop-meets-folk sound that’s been all the rage over the past few years. You know the drill: lots of soaring melodies, male-female vocals, a tendency to use shit like glockenspiel and melodica just because you can. Sure, it nods toward folk traditions at moments, but at its heart, this is just twee pop music dressed up in backwoods clothing. Nothing wrong with that, of course, and Of Monsters and Men’s songwriting is solid.
