BSÍ

About

" Unapologetically raw pop-punk social warriors "

Named after Reykjavík’s grey and depressing central bus station, BSÍ – comprised of Silla Thorarensen (drums & vocals) and Julius Pollux Rothlaender (bass guitar & toe-synths) – started under the premise of two best friends trying instruments they didn’t know how to play.

BSÍ, which may or may not actually stand for Brussels Sprouts Intl, is an unconventional band that uses music as a playground and a medium for experimentation. The mentality stems from their own refreshingly healthy motto of not taking themselves too seriously, being honest about struggling with self-doubt and imperfection, while realizing these are both empowering virtues and a part of the human experience.

True to this playground, their music is varied and all-encompassing, exploring the good times just as much as the bad. Sometimes, their music is a feel-good mix of foot-tapping, head-bopping indie-cute-punk-pop, with strong bass and drum lines running across an undercurrent of raw and sometimes distorted vocals. At other times, it is a melancholy lo-fi soundtrack to accompany heartbreak.

While BSÍ may not take themselves seriously, quite the opposite is true of their approach to social justice, which they take very seriously. Self-described as being driven to smash “sexism, racism, ableism, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia and all other social systems based on oppressive, hierarchic and patriarchal structures,” their song ‘My knee against kyriarchy’ is a frustrated call to arms at the state of the world hidden behind a melody that is, at first glance, agreeable and easy to digest – with the lyrics betraying the true intent behind the song. Nowhere is the breadth of their themes better expressed than in the title of their debut two-part EP, ‘Sometimes depressed… but always antifascist’.

Picture credits: Maria-Carmela Raso