Seek Shelter - Iceage: Review
Iceage
is a Danish post-punk group who have been garnering massive critical acclaim for their heavy and creative art punk sound for a full decade. 2013's You're Nothing and 2014's Plowing Through The Field Of Love expanded their sound and the scope of their reach cementing them as one of the most beloved post-punk acts of the 2010's.
Review By Lav:
For those of us who are in the know, it doesn't get much better than Iceage. I know that sounds a tad pretentious but despite just how much critical acclaim the band has been drowned in they still feel like a secret in the music industry at large. With a sound that is somewhat accessible compared to a few of their piers I've always been amazed that the band doesn't have the massive reach they deserve. I have enjoyed everything the band has released so far without a bad album or even many bad songs in their catalog. Consistency is really the key word with their discography, and with Seek Shelter. Across this 9 track, 40ish minute record you won't find a single bad song, and even some of the singles I was initially light on sound much better within the context of the entire album.
The record wastes absolutely no time getting into its highlights with the opening track Shelter Song being a singles I really liked, and enjoy even more as the records opener. It's a methodical but instantly attention grabbing intro. The vocals are as front and center as they come on an Iceage track and they work so well with the catchy refrains being performed. The hook is catchy as hell and is matched by a perfect rise in instrumentation. That continues with the very next song High & Hurt which brings some genuinely groovy guitar licks. It's quite an anthemic cut with some soaring vocal lines but is also maintains the bands hard-hitting style. It's slick and punchy throughout and carries on the records great start.
Vendetta was perhaps the most traditionally "single" sounding of all the singles. It has a distant bouncy guitar riff and steady pace-keeping drums. It's definitely grown on me since I first heard it and I really appreciate how heavy it all sounds when everything comes together. I can't make out exactly what the lyrical narrative is occasionally it feels almost perfectly contradictory, but I definitely have to give the song credit for how evocative it is lyrically. I know that most people won't see Drink Rain as a major highlight on the record, but it is slowly becoming a huge favorite for me. The song has a theatrical performance vibe to it with the zig zagging instrumental palette and isolated vocals. As weird as it is on first listen I've come around on the song quite a bit and the only reason I can explain why is that it feels like Sam and Jonathan from Foxygen's take on the Iceage sound. Viewed through this lens the song is slowly looking like more and more of a masterpiece to me every time I hear it.
Love Kills Slowly is an even slower slow burner than some of the singles. It's quite the meditative cut but it does always feel like it's building to something and for the most part I like the payoff. Even though it doesn't have the catchiest hook in the world I think the extra vocal layering is a nice addition that goes a long way. I've gone back and forth on Gold City a track that gets off to a slow start to deliver some lyrical focus for the song. Once it explodes into a pseudo hook with an almost heartland rock sounding bravado I really enjoy it. While the earlier lyrics seem to reference quarantine in some way once the song kicks off it sort of transitions into a broader piece of societal commentary. While it doesn't blow me away with any one elements the longer the song goes on adding more instrumentation the more I enjoy it.
If the record has one flaw it is the last third of its tracklist. None of these songs are necessarily bad but they are among the records less inspired cuts and they all come three in a row. The best of the trio is the closing track The Holding Handwhich makes a lot more sense as a closer than it did as a lead single. It's a creeping, methodical rock rager with quite a bit to say. The composition lends it quite well to being a finale even if the refrains themselves don't necessarily knock my socks off. The instrumental freak-out in the closing moments is a very fitting conclusion to the record as a whole.
Dear Saint Cecelia has a tight grooving instrumental and some more memorable lyricism. The verses contains some of the most scathing vocals you'll hear on the record and they are slightly reminiscent of the bands earliest work. This contrasts pretty hard with one of the most easily digestible hooks I've ever heard Iceage execute. The dichotomy is interesting at the least but the song is primarily a deep cut. Finally The Wider Powder Blue is one of the grandest instrumental arrangements with brash guitars, crashing percussion and an array of horns all coming together to form a loud/quiet/loud dynamic. Once again I find this somewhat compelling but it does sort of drag in the middle with a relatively long selection of the quiet portion of the song. Despite that it does still have some memorable moments that made it worthwhile pretty much every time.
I think it's safe to say that Iceage has done it again on Seek Shelter. The band who have been remarkably consistent for a decade remain so as I once again can't pick out one song on the album that I thought was bad. While it has lulls here and there and a somewhat tepid stretch on the back end even these tracks can stand alone with some really solid ideas at their core. I love the bands continued approach to lyricism as the record delivers scathing social commentary disguised as art-school poetry on nearly every song. As far as post-punk and art-punk goes the band has carved out a strong niche and distinctive style for themselves, and that doesn't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. 8/10
I find this cover unsettling. I'm not sure what's happening, what the connections are and what was going through the designers brain. The photo is strange and leads you eye to look right but the text fights it and makes you look left. The tension makes it hard to focus on anything. The colors aren't striking and don't help the image at all. This cover is not successful in my eyes and sorta freaks me out. 2/10
