ARTIST: Iceage
TITLE: New Brigade
YEAR RELEASED: 2011
CHART ACTION: None
SINGLES: None
OTHER SONGS YOU MAY KNOW: Maybe if you follow the Pitchfork Top 100 every year
LINEUP: Elias Ronnenfelt, John Weith, Jakob Pless, Dan Nielsen
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: Danish teenagers make an unholy punk rock racket.
SOME WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES ABOUT THIS RECORD: There’s still hardcore bands out there. Iceage, a group of Danish teens, is one of the latest to claim the title of the leaders of the next generation of hard/fast/rules.
Their debut record speeds by in 24 minutes without taking a breath. They’re not the usual three-chord suspects since they delve into minor keys and somewhat interesting progressions. But the songs eschew solos, and are straight and to the point. They have focus if nothing else. At times, that focus is distracting because they’re just so unrelenting.
Soundwise, it’s a bit raw. However, the energy of the performance makes up for it a bit.
NOTES & MINUTAE: Pitchfork and Uncut both had this in their Top 50 albums of 2011.
IS THERE A DELUXE VERSION: No.
GRADE: B-: I don’t think it’s all that and a bag of chips, but it’s good to hear youngsters embracing hardcore.