Of Monsters and Men: "Little Talks"

The six-piece Icelandic folk-pop group Of Monsters and Men makes its Lollapalooza debut on Sunday at 6 p.m. on the Bud Light stage. They'll be fighting indie rock powerhouse Florence + the Machine, electronica Big Gigantic, and "punk-hardcorepunk-posthardcore" At the Drive-In for your attention; the latter two crowds likely won't overlap, but anyone wishing to hear something with just as much heart as Flo but less exposure should take notice.

The group came together in 2009 when sole female member Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir, who performed solo as Songbird, assembled some fellow musicians to beef up the sound. It clicked, and the four-piece band -- which featured singer/guitarist Ragnar “Raggi” þórhallsson, guitarist Brynjar Leifsson, and drummer Arnar Rósenkranz Hilmarsson -- won 2010's Músíktilraunir (which translates to "Music Experiments"), Iceland's battle of the bands. After that the group added piano/accordion player Árni Guðjónsson and bassist Kristján Páll Kristjánsson, wrote some more songs, and went on KEXP to record this live living room set.

The video itself is charming; the band giggles before the song starts, probably a combination of excitement and nerves. But the band members had no way of knowing this video would help launch their career. Or maybe they did know, and they rose to the challenge. Either way, the song is well-constructed pop, catchy, good for singing along, down to the joyful, full-band yelling of "Hey!" Singers Hilmarsdóttir and þórhallssons' voices are sweet together in harmony, and the accordion line keeps the song firmly rooted in folk. 

The pop grooves worked. What followed was a hit debut in Iceland last September, which prompted a U.S. EP in December and a full album release in April 2012. The album, My Head is an Animal, peaked at no. 6 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and no. 1 on both the Rock and Alternative album charts. To date, this video has more than 2 million YouTube views, and the song reached no. 5 on both the U.S. Rock and Alternative charts. Buy the album for $2 on Amazon here.

The band has kept busy -- they were on Leno last Friday, and they're touring the U.K. and Australia before a few U.S. dates (Rhode Island, Maine, and California) and Lollapalooza. They're also playing an aftershow with Yellow Ostrich on Friday night at the House of Blues.

I like their music. Just don't ask me to pronounce their names.