Show Review: Iceage @ Emos (7/15)

Iceage burst into town, fueled with an entourage of massive hype and adoration.  It was a night full of quick riffs, stage stalking and bursts of machine-gun delivery vocals.  You won’t find too many complaints from this writer. The bill at Emos was filled with local acts, and they did their job to keep up the rep of the Austin punk scene. The Creamers opened the night, giving us a rambunctious bit of bratty punk. Drums banged and arms swung in the pit…giving a great energy to the evening.  Women in Prison were a bit heavier, at least as far as the vocals went, with hints of a more hardcore approach to their quick set.  Finally, the local Austin bands finished up with Deskonocidos, who had the night’s best guitar player, by a long long stretch, not to mention using Spanish in the lyrics, which always wins me over.  Austin stood strong and fast on this sweltering Saturday, providing plenty of time for the night’s headliner.

Denmark’s Iceage probably couldn’t have a better career going for themselves at the moment.  Their excellent record, New Brigade, on Whats Your Rupture has pretty much conquered the music landscape, surprising it all seems to have happened so fast for the group. They’re young, and loud, so when they took to the stage, we all expected a complete disregard for bodily harm, in both their case and ours.

Drums pummeled our ears, and Elias stalked the stage, at least once he dropped his guitar.  They were precisely what one would expect, drenching their heavy guitars in reverb, hinting at undercurrents of melody within their songs.  It all came fast and quick, though I’ll admit that they seemed a bit disinterested at times.  You would expect the energy from their music to translate perfectly into body movement, but alas, only Elias seemed to be giving it his all. As great as it was, it seemed like it ended almost as quickly as it begun.  Less than 20 minutes on stage, and the band was finished.  A fan of the band such as myself was grateful to get to see the band in the live capacity, and knowing of the youthfulness, you know they can go leaps and bounds with what they’re doing.  For now, they’re the hottest band around, loved by hipsters and hardcore fans alike, and if they keep kicking it as hard as they did on Saturday at Emos, they’ll continue to on their rise to world domination.

You can of course see more fancy photos from Mr. Gray on his website.