”
A cartoon hybrid of an incredibly stupid Fall, a incredibly sloppy Beastie Boys and a dreadfully undercooked UK Subs, they charmed yours truly.”
”
A cartoon hybrid of an incredibly stupid Fall, a incredibly sloppy Beastie Boys and a dreadfully undercooked UK Subs, they charmed yours truly.”
Test Icicles – For Screening Purposes Only
Before I start on the review proper, short as it is, I feel that I need to recount a bit of personal history to you. When I first received this album, I played it and promptly took it off, vowing never to play it again. Frankly, the bloody thing wound me up, irrespective of any musical merit it may have contained. Oddly enough, I quite like thrashy teenage noise, occasionally even going so far as to frequent places where teenagers congregate and to participate with them acting in a brattish manner; especially when a concert is being thrown by some exponent of the genre, such as Mad Capsule Markets. (Gosh aren’t I with it?) However, Test Icicles and I didn’t hit it off first time around.
Then I saw them live last November and it all fell into place. A cartoon hybrid of an incredibly stupid Fall, a incredibly sloppy Beastie Boys and a dreadfully undercooked UK Subs, they charmed yours truly. I loved that gig. So here I am, reviewing this album. Albeit briefly.
And I have to say, it has its moments. Not many, but those moments undeniably exist. There is something hidden within the dreadful posturing and with Boa vs Python and Circle. Square. Triangle Test Icicles boast two great tracks and hopefully pointers to something more developed. Maintain the Focus and Snowball aren’t half bad either. But I get the feeling that the explosion of teenage noise, puss and semen is what they are all about. I mean the cover artwork (a messy room replete with cartoons, skateboards, pizza boxes and a fire extinguisher) gives it all away. If only they could separate their irreverence and wit from the teenage brat-squealing and posturing, then they’d be onto something. As it is, they’re irredeemably, irretrievably interlinked.
Lordy, listen to the old git reviewer…
Words: Richard Foster.