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Dec 22, 2011Brimming with character and endlessly relistenable, Icky Mettle is something of a touchstone for one of US indie's purplest patches.
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Dec 14, 2011Overall it's about as perfect as introduction to the band as you're likely to get, and perhaps a timely chance to give the Archers an opportunity to climb back into the upper echelons of your record collection.
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Aug 19, 2011Icky Mettle might have a reputation for containing a one-trick pony and the band's singular best known moment in the form of "Web in Front," but there's a wealth of material to really dig into and enjoy.
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UncutAug 18, 2011Their 1993 debut, remastered by Bob Weston with b-sides and rarities, treads similar--of less self-consciously clever--ground to Crooked rain-era Pavement, with dissonant, spiky guitars piercing surprisingly melodic college radio favorites. [Sep 2011, p.79]
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Aug 15, 2011Icky Mettle rocks. Hard.
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Entertainment WeeklyAug 10, 2011The reissue of their 1993 debut rescues a bevy of lost single, further cementing Icky;s status as a holy grail of lovely, rumpled passion. [5 Aug 2011, p.75]
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Aug 9, 2011When listening to Icky Mettle, you feel included, like they're the crew you've known your entire life. The fact that it's both very relevant today and a thrilling snapshot of the restlessly creative 90's underground is no small achievement.
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Aug 8, 2011The new double-disc edition of Icky Mettle explains why hopes for AoL were so high, and why those hopes may have been misplaced.
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Under The RadarAug 8, 2011Let's hope this superb reissue, replete with loads of essential "7 singles and ephemera remedies that, and introduces this seminal band to a new generation of indie rock fans. [Jul 2011, p.90]
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Aug 5, 2011The early material is interesting, if only to hear how "Web in Front" and "Wrong" were fleshed out on Icky Mettle. But it's the album, and The Greatest of All Time, that are the real draw here.
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Aug 5, 2011Barring some future set that includes vials of the musicians' blood, sweat, and tears, this will stand as the definitive version of Icky Mettle-an answered prayer to new and old fans that makes these songs sound startlingly present.
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Aug 5, 2011This self-fulfilling fatalism is at the heart of innumerable rock songs by innumerable bitter young men, but it is rarely expressed with the introspective clarity that Bachmann displays throughout Icky Mettle.
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Aug 5, 2011They perfected the genre moves: bracing attack, two-guitar blurs of dissonance and beauty, a sympathetic barker wringing emotion from lyrics about the insular rock scene and girls who stalked it.
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Aug 5, 2011It's indie rock as hearty and art-free as oatmeal, before the line separating it from the mainstream dissolved, before it became so...eclectic.
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Aug 5, 20111993's Icky Mettle thumps Warp's warpath between lo-fi sad sackery ("You and Me") and shitstorm post-post punk ("Sick File"). The Archers of Loaf vs. The Greatest of All Time EP ignites a bonus disc as anthemic as 1977 Clash ("Bathroom").
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Aug 5, 2011If anything, the extras better inform the choices eventually made on the band's debut, highlighting just how great a record it turned out to be (since, basically, they'd been doing it from song one). Put simply, Icky Mettle is a gem of early '90s rock worthy of a place in the indie Smithsonian.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 14 out of 17
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Mixed: 2 out of 17
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Negative: 1 out of 17
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Oct 27, 2011
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Nov 13, 2011
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Oct 13, 2011