As you might’ve noticed a while back I haven’t uploaded jack shit since that awfully reductive and obviously rushed Have a Nice Life review in March, without pointing fingers at anyone but myself the reason for this blog’s lack of continuity is its sole administrator’s perfectionism and his pseudo-religious adherence to pitchforkian journalism which have resulted in a saddening accumulation of unpublished material. So, in order to temporarily circumvent its death (and hopefully restore some life), today I plan to share my thoughts on the new Iceage jam that’s been shaping up to be one of my favorites (no pun intended) this year, why Iceage? Don’t know, don’t care, remember why this entry was written in the first place.
Initially, what caught my attention the most isn’t the imagery (which is decidedly absurd) but the approach they seem to have experimented with, it would catch yours too if you’d enjoyed any of their previous releases especially the “melodic” parts of New Brigade to which I think “The Lord’s Favorite” owes its stylistic roots, not to say they’re distinctly similar as “The Lord’s Favorite” is richer in both composition and instrumentation; brief flourishes of what sounds like a banjo provide some nice variation to that loose, almost frantic playing I’ve come to love about their guitar work as the drums and bass maintain a straight up you-might-wanna-start-dancing beat, Elias’ vocals aren’t terrible but I feel he could’ve tailored his delivery to better reinforce the noticeably more positive mood and there’s the possibility that I just haven’t “got it” yet.
All in all “The Lord’s Favorite” sees Iceage make great use of the reputation they’ve built for themselves by not meeting our expectations and showing us what to expect instead, that in the wake of every heart-rending bout against depression there lies the simple and sweet realization of how much happiness remains to be sought and appreciated.
ASASI 