18
Aug/11

ICEAGE

18
Aug/11

Scandinavian teenage postpunk quartet Iceage is back for two area shows promoting debut album

Saturday, August 20, Cake Shop, $10, 8:00
Monday, August 22, Mercury Lounge, $10, 9:30
www.myspace.com/egaeci

Speeding by at Ramones-like speed, Scandinavian postpunk quartet Iceage’s debut album, New Brigade (What’s Your Rupture?, June 2011), consists of eleven propulsive tracks that clock in at barely more than twenty-five minutes. The Danish teens play a furious mix of Joy Division, the Clash, the Pogues, and the Black Lips, adding in a flurry of black metal, on such songs as “White Rune,” “Teeth Crush,” “Total Drench,” and “Collapse.” Elias Bender Rønnenfelt sings in English, accompanied by Johan Surrballe Wieth on guitar, Jakob Tvilling Pless on bass, and Dan Kjaer Nielsen on drums. Chaotic flourishes power “Eyes” and “Broken Bone,” while a sirenlike wailing guitar sears across “Never Return.” And through it all, Nielsen’s slightly muffled, exhilarating drumming pounds away at your body. “I lie in a pool of spit and fear / But I won’t stay weak or hurt or shattered,” Rønnenfelt sings on the album closer, “You’re Blessed,” and it’s impossible not to get caught up in his youthful exuberance. Iceage will be playing Cake Shop on August 20 with YOU. and Frank (just Frank) and Mercury Lounge on August 22 with Hoax and Hank Wood and the Hammerheads.