Greg Baugh

First impressions of Test icicles may lead you to believe that they are style over substance fashion fodder, but listening to their debut album will dismiss this image. The three east London boys have created a debut album that encompasses everything that’s hard and loud.

The album opens with “Your Biggest Mistake”, a brutal and unflinching sonic assault of firing beats and wiry, edgy guitar lines. The vocals compliment the sound perfectly with the odd spasmodic scream here and there; at times the vocals are reminiscent of The Futureheads call and response style. This track sets the tone of the album perfectly; the musical style is a melee of Indie, emo, hardcore and at times hip-hop.

The boys do their best to keep the party going with the singles “Boa vs. Python” and “Circle, Square, Triangle” With the latter being easily the best track on the album. Its kicks off with a pounding house beat before the guitars coming ripping through like a demented fashionite with a chainsaw in the local second hand boutique. It's not long before the fantastic “We can do with some more poison” chorus kicks in.

By far the most extreme track on the album is “Catch It”. It’s a fantastic slice of hardcore, with a strange dub style chorus. The lyrics are barely audible, but this just serves to add to the texture and extremity of the song.

The first half of the album surpasses the second; with the latter containing the duller, less memorably parts of the album such as forgettable last single “What’s Your Damage?”. Its not all bad news though, there are some decent tracks such as “Snowball” and “Dancing On Pegs”, but on the whole there are quite a few filler tracks here.

In general terms a lot of musicians and bands have stagnated, people seem to afraid of taking risks and trying something different. Test Icicles are seemingly unafraid to be confined by genre. Granted, this album has its flaws, but on the whole when it works it's thrilling. It's just that when it doesn’t it really shows.

This album certainly isn’t for everyone. If your music collection runs from The Libertines to Razorlight, this isn’t for you. However, if you’re looking for something different, sexy, smart, and cool as fuck then you should check this out.

I wouldn't bother waiting for the second album either, as there isn't going to be one. The trio recently called it a day, so grab this LP while you still can.

Rating:

7/10

Discuss this article in the forum