Iceage
You’re Nothing
Matador
Street: 02.09
Iceage = The Middle Class + (No Age – wimps) + Hüsker Dü
Like dying in a dream or Francis Bacon’s paintings, Iceage have delivered a bittersweet roller-coaster stomach lurch with their sophomore release, which drives forward in a disjointed dance with opener “Ecstasy.” Compared to debut New Brigade, Iceage still speed up at a moment’s notice, but the album is more janky—“Coalition” builds then breaks with drum fills and cymbal strikes amid guitars that move with a finger to diatonic scales. The creepy “Interlude” exhibits unsettling rolls, allowing the subsequent, drone-y “Burning Hand” to spurt like magma. The album offers interesting points insomuch that I was willing to invest my attention and be engulfed by the harrowing reverb and and wash of overtones; “Everything Drifts” teases the ear with guitar melody as it pleases before the hi-hat and Elias Bender Rønnenfelt’s hollow groans take over. With tracks like “Rodfæstet” that balance out the release with straightforward hardcore and blurring guitars, You’re Nothing has captured my interest a hundredfold. –Alexander Ortega