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As serious as things get on Penance Soiree (and the choppy "Spit On" gets pretty serious), there's the happily nagging notion that Icarus Line just want to entertain, and that they're damn good at it.
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Alternative PressFull of the most intense guitar rock to come out of L.A. since Jane's Addiction's Nothing's Shocking. [Jun 2004, p.104]
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Penance Soiree is everything dirty and vile about rock music.
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The opening half of 'Penance...' alone blows every so-called rock act polluting our airwaves clean away, such is the savage malevolence that resonates within every single syllable that spouts from Joe Cardamone's mouthful of poison.
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Entertainment WeeklyAvant-rock fiends should rejoice. [7 May 2004, p.84]
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FilterIt hurts, but like another ferocious beast said, it hurts so good. [#10, p.94]
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MojoTheir debut, Mono, gave voice to little beyond their frustration, and the distance between that impressively venomous fit of black-hearted flailing and Penance Soiree's stereopathic, multiphonic attack is similar to that between Nirvana's Bleach and Nevermind. [May 2004, p.94]
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By simply playing by the rock 'n' roll rulebook-- whose article 17, section 4 strictly dictates that ego, excess and publicity stunts are to take complete precedence over, you know, songs-- Penance Soiree is one of the better straight-up records you're bound to hear from the genre all year.
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The band is more than mere axe-bludgeoners. They've got original ideas that show a willingness to experiment with music beyond speaker-hiccuping thrash; some ideas pan out, others, not so much.
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Q MagazineSomeone still plays the Devil's music. [Jun 2004, p.98]
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Memorable tunes seldom emerge from the murk.
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SpinThe Jane's Addiction album Jane's Addiction should have made last year. [Jun 2004, p.108]
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The band refuses to stick to simple, repetitive rhythms; the guitars regularly squeal with feedback, humming with distortion as they lay down thick 'n' meaty power chords.
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If the original and inspiring Icarus Line take on itself had been continued from the beginning or, better yet, the record had been shortened, wed have a masterpiece on our hands. As it is, a much better outing than Mono and a brilliant song in Getting Bright at Night.
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While everyone else tries to steal from the greats, The Icarus Line have done an impressive job at continuing the great traditions in rock music.
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Under The RadarToo boozy and nihilistic to be punk music in the community-building sense of the word. [#7]
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Searing white light and scrappy vocals are replaced by the druggy stomping and weighty grooves of '70s cosmic metal, yet the band's alluringly youthful braggadocio remains.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 8 out of 10
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Mixed: 2 out of 10
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Negative: 0 out of 10
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JebusLizzurdFeb 28, 2005
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GöstaJJan 12, 2005Indeed one of the best albums of 2004!
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RobertAJun 23, 2004this is some great music open your ears and listen. rob