It’s The Little Things

About halfway through Danish group Iceage’s Plowing Into The Field Of Love, on the stellar track “Abundant Living,” lead singer Bender Rønnenfelt groans, “And when I fall, I’ll bring it all down here with me soaked in alcohol.” And listening to the album it sounds like he succeeded. It is incredibly heavy, burdened and dragged down by Rønnenfelt’s bellowing baritone voice and the powerhouse rhythm section and it’s that much better because of it. One can easily imagine the band, soaked in sweat and booze, simultaneously hungover and drunk, just playing their hearts out in a smokey Copenhagen bar giving every ounce of strength they have to churn out their music. It’s a compelling image and the sound of desperation makes the music incredibly exhilarating.

This album isn’t all heavy, though. There are nice contrasts sprinkled throughout the record. Iceage does what few punk bands are able to do: make heavy, roaring melodic puck that hits you straight in the face while simultaneously giving you something to whistle when it’s over. They’re so successful because, underneath all the talk-singing, crunchy guitars, and pounding drums, are melodic, lighter piano tracks, and even trumpet and the occasional string section. The lighter touches of the album give it a melodic base and textural change that prevent it from getting too monotonous (and even make listeners want to try and sing, or rather, growl along with some songs).

It’s tough to pick out the best songs of the album because so many of them are so good. There are the obvious choices, like the rollicking country-punk of “The Lord’s Favorite” or “Forever,” with its ear-worm of a guitar riff, understandable lyrics (most of the time Rønnenfelt’s lyrics get swallowed by the music or by his off-kilter delivery), and those strings that come in during the second half of the song, providing a burst of color on an otherwise gray but intense track. But what about the dark horse candidates?

“Against The Moon” surely is the most unique song on the album. The swirling string and horn backing track suggests a heavy fog or a hangover on one of those dark, rainy Copenhagen mornings. Rønnenfelt’s voice takes center stage on this track for the only time on the whole album and it’s nice to hear him use a more restrained croon rather than his usual drunken growl. Or perhaps “Stay” is the winner. It starts as slow-burning blues, but soon the fog and smoke dissipate along with the Halloweenish vibe, and the band combusts, pounding and roaring until they return to the slow burn. They repeat this process throughout the song to unsettling and exciting effect (the slightly out-of-tune and off-beat violin hit is the kind of small thing that elevates this track into greatness).

Give Plowing Into The Field Of Love a listen, and then keep it on repeat while you try to pick out all the little production and instrumental decisions that separate this record, not just from Iceage’s previous work (it’s much more mature and carefully crafted, without sacrificing any of the raw power that makes them great), but from any other punk album released recently.