Woo hoo – more dark stories from a bitter young man. It would seem that I can’t enough of this genre at the moment.
Icarus Himself is Nick Whetro from National Beekeepers Society. I hadn’t heard of them before, but after these five tracks, I’ll definitely be doing some investigating. They’re relatively simple songs, largely acoustic with the help of a drum machine as the songs pick up, providing the sinister undertones. The music compliments the lyrics and the voice, essentially. It’s kind of lo-fi pop, but with a firm eye on the grim. Musically it’s the sound of The Kills making a suicide pact.
‘Scene from a Car Crash’ sounds like The Faint going all acoustic on us. It’s a vivid tale of the impact of a death. It’s a song of verses taking the listener from the car crash through to the funeral (“Her family was notified, her father broke down and cried”), and it’s sung in a truly mournful way, which makes the sad nature of the song seem even more tragic. ‘Amputee’ is truly macabre. “Darling you can be my amputee,” sung like early Bright Eyes is not one of the most romantic lines you’ve ever heard.
“Last Lung” sounds just like Lightspeed Champion. The ideas are the same – sad song, optimistic sound, and the vocal style is very similar. It’s a paradox that works so well. “On an empty road, a song was sung/ to the mother’s who consume their young.” You shouldn’t be able to bob about with a smile on your face to a song like that, but maybe that’s the point. ‘Youth In Asia’ could be a Faint song as well, albeit without the electro-element. It’s a good way to appeal to this reviewer – sounding like some of my favourite acts out there. The last track on the EP ‘People’s Temple’ is a kind of twee tune, but with the dark lyric confusion returning. It descends into a wall of noise before disappearing, leaving you with the impression that you’ve been unexpectedly violated.
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‘Icarus Himself EP’ is one of those CD’s that you can play for fun in front of your mates to see who is paying attention. At some point, someone will hear something that will make them take notice and then the rest will follow. So head off with your wicked smiles and give this one a go.
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