Back in 2001 I had just bought the debut album from a new LA band I had read some great things about and dragged my friends to their first London performance. The band were The Icarus Line, the album was the awesome Mono and the venue was the now demolished Astoria II (or whatever name it went by then).
Despite a half empty room the band, dressed in their trademark black shirts and red ties, proceeded to scream and fight their way through an incendiary set. This was a lesson in tension and dynamics. The results were some bickering on stage, a profusely split lip and smashed guitars, which considering this was only the start of the tour just proved how magnificently unpredictable this lot could be.
Much has gone on since that release with the Californian troublemakers going through a few line up changes in their subsequent releases whilst still maintaining the same amount anger/ hunger though they (at times) refined the in your face approach.
A couple of month ago saw the release of ‘We Sick‘ and ‘Holy Man‘ which seem to be a good indication of where the band stand in 2010. The production values may be slightly elevated but the band still master quiet/loud dynamics perfectly whilst the aforementioned fierceness is still in place.
The Icarus Line are one of those bands you feel could implode at any minute, but as long as they continue making their glorious brand of noise I’m happy to go along with it.
TRACKS:
The Icarus Line – We Sick
