Iceage

Plowing Into The Field Of Love (Matador)
17/20

It’s been five years and three albums since we first heard Iceage, and though their music has changed a lot, there’s one glaring constant that refuses to die: Iceage love pissing into the wind. Their commitment to playing by their own rules, potentially at their own expense, could be as foolhardy as it is admirable, but if it is their undoing, then at least they’ll be undone by exploration and not stagnation.

When lead track The Lord’s Favourite dropped a few weeks back, it divided the band’s fans. The rockabilly-punk formula baffled at first, and not least because it sounded like they’d been listening to a holy ton of Libertines records. But gently, slowly, it crept up and hit us; they’d written a career-crowning track that didn’t sound like anything they’d written before. On the whole, the band’s greatness lies in their ability to write raw, emotive songs that stab and hack but actually remain catchy and listenable. Abundant Living, arguably the album’s highlight, is a perfect example of their shapeshifting, switchblade attack.

Plunky strings and groaning, throaty moans tear into one another and carve a visceral punk anthem. Admittedly there are moments of pure, confrontational nonsense on the record, but what would Iceage be without cacophony? The trembling, too-sharp strings on Stay, the strained vocals on Plowing Into The Field Of Love or the hostile, drunken warmth of Against The Moon only add to the brevity of Iceage’s mythical status. They are imposing guardians of an ever-evolving scene providing a blueprint to a headache for a new generation of adolescent, jumped-up, snot-nosed punx.

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Words: Billy Black

@billybillyblack