Iceage
For Love of Grace & the Hereafter
Mexican Summer
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When Iceage first emerged in 2011 with their debut album New Brigade, they were sulky Danish teenagers who quickly became known as difficult interview subjects (one interview with Pitchfork lasted a mere three minutes), and for being described as haughty. "People can call us a hardcore band if they like," singer/guitarist Elias Rønnenfelt told the Guardian. "I don't care. It doesn't really interest me." Still, despite their sullenness, no one could deny that Iceage had injected punk rock with exhilarating new life on that first album. In fact, Rolling Stone just this past month named New Brigade one of the 100 Greatest Punk Albums of All Time.
The Danish media first recognized Iceage’s brilliance, portraying them rather romantically as a wild band of teenage ruffians who put on rowdy, bloody-nosed shows in their hometown of Copenhagen. Then came a six-month tour of the United States, and fawning American press. Four more albums followed, with Iceage shedding the raw-boned punk of their first two albums for a more nuanced, full-bodied sound beginning with their third album Plowing Into the Field of Love.
For their sixth album For Love of Grace & the Hereafter, the band, now adults in their early thirties, returned to Silence Studio in rural Sweden, where they recorded Plowing Into the Field of Love in 2014. However, this new album harkens back to the raw punk DNA of their first two albums, while still infusing it in parts with the crooning polish of their later records.
According to a press statement, Iceage wanted a sound that was “immediate, urgent, raw, and fast.” “We wanted to try to shed any unnecessary weight,” Rønnenfelt said. “Catching outlets of energy is what excites us the most.” And they achieved that—For Love of Grace & the Hereafter is rough-and-tumble, economical, deliberately imperfect, brazen rock ‘n’ roll.
“Ember,” the energetic, careening opener, ticks with a sense of foreboding and wild excitement. The video depicts Iceage much as they were first portrayed as teenagers—as motorcycle-riding masked hoodlums setting off smoke flares and spraying graffiti. “I love you in an ominous way,” Rønnenfelt sings throatily, and then the song dissolves into a pub-like singalong.
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“Match Head Girl” expands on the theme of a combustible spark with poetry about an all-consuming love that’s both intoxicating and blisteringly dangerous. “Say the Lord’s prayer / Gutted beyond repair / Drove the stake, a fresh tear / She’s swimming in my arteries, ooh.” It zigzags with a marching dissonance, a hyper jangle punctuated by “do-do-do’s” and strutting with the confidence of a new crush.
“The Weak” is a wild surf-rock ride down dirt roads and overgrown trails, a meditation on the degraded beauty of accepting too many limitations and that “life is for the weak.” “Salve for Every Sore” is spoken-word poetry against the backdrop of a country-tinged jig. Meanwhile, “mother-of-pearl” harkens back to The Strokes and the early-aughts indie sleaze era, a tale of prison, prostitution, and heroin addiction with an infectious chorus and studded with animalistic yelps.
“Tender Blades” is reminiscent of ’70s Rolling Stones, groovy and slinky and a little dirty in the best possible way, while “1835” has the ‘90s indie-rock DNA of Pavement or Guided By Voices. And then, holy shit, there’s “Star”—an earworm, a banger, a master class in the use of handclaps that makes you want to jump around and dance like a teenage maniac.
The album loses a little bit of steam towards the end, possibly just because anything that comes after “Star” is inevitably going to be a letdown. “Lifetime” features dexterous poetry and the bird themes Rønnenfelt has come to be known for—“An embryo hatched in the egg, the break of shell / Squint through the cracks, the brood, the cell / Born wet and needing, growing feathers to be plucked.” “Holy Water” is a bouncy, spiraling romp in the hot sun, while final track “True Blue” marries a touch of alt-country twang with hangdog shoegazey introspection.
For Love of Grace & the Hereafter boasts a jagged sophistication, the entire album pulsing with a sense of amused urgency, reckless beauty, and exuberant swagger—a worthy addition to this band’s nearly flawless discography.
Notable Tracks: “1835” | “Ember” | “Match Head Girl” | “mother-of-pearl” | Star”
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