Whenever you befriend someone in a band and are about to hear them play for the first time, there is a small moment of all-consuming fear that they might be complete shit. In this case, my friend is Frederik (with whom I share a hallway at my dorm in Copenhagen) and the band is Fugleflugten . And, thankfully, they are not complete shit.
Comprised of Rasmus Yde on vocals, Mathias Rosenkilde on guitar, Frederik Henriksen on Bass, and Laurits Pilegaard on drums, the band was formed about two years ago and started off as a group of friends having dinner together. They organically flowed from talking about music to talking about making music to actually making music. Thus, Fugleflugten was formed.
The first time I heard them was in Freetown Christiana, a self-proclaimed autonomous neighborhood within Copenhagen, in a venue full of the smoke of various substances and people who wear hats and sunglasses indoors. They played alongside Bande de los Apaches whose track, “Tits Out for the Boys”, was featured on the promotional fliers Frederik hid in our kitchen drawer either out of laziness or out of embarrassment of the sexism that I will attribute to “Danish irony” (apparently the Danes think they invented irony). The blurry atmosphere of Christiana perfectly suited their shoegaze, neo-psychedelic, punk rock. The melodies and vocals immerse you in the Nordic darkness of their melancholic and twisted sound. While their sound leaves you lost in a wintery abyss, the band are anything but cold. When Frederik spent the better part of a year in North America, the band simply waited for him to return playing without a bass player for the duration of his journey.
Take a look at their video for the track, “Det Er På Tide”, featuring visuals created by vocalist Rasmus Yde himself.
The band has a tendency for getting singled out as they were specifically requested by Temper Trap to open for their concert in Copenhagen last December and were chosen to be highlighted as part of Roskilde Festival’s tradition of debuting up-and-coming local talent on their Rising Stage. The crowd soaked them up singing along to every track and screaming for more. Keep track of Fugleflugten’s soaring success on Facebook and their EP, Aftenpragtstjerne, deserves a listen in its entirety.
