Nothing Special

Danish punk outfit, Iceage has put out their second album in so many years, You’re Nothing and it is a solid, enjoyable record- nothing more, nothing less. Discordant and chaotic, one would expect this record to overpower and alienate whatever situation its played in, but it actually seems to fade into noisy, but not at all unpleasant, background music. Iceage brings together anxious, disjointed old school punk influence with lo-fi, The Cure-inspired post-punk, which, while unique and rather enjoyable, is ultimately a bit boring and hard to focus on.

The first two tracks on You’re Nothing, “Ecstasy” and “Coalition,” are two of the most high-energy songs on the album, with lots of raw, old-school street-punk screaming and guitars, but they are followed up by an “Interlude” that does nothing but lose the listeners’ attention. Interludes in general, on punk records, come across pretentious and tend to slow the record down and even annoy the listener, and at only track three it feels very out of place. “In Haze” and one track later, “Everything Drifts,” are the highlights of the album, with interesting and catchy riffs and the most noticeable post-punk influence.

All in all, You’re Nothing isn’t that bad of a record, but it isn’t that good of a record either. It will certainly sell to angsty hipsters looking for something to simultaneously impress and alienate their other angsty hipster friends, but it doesn’t really stand out as anything that special. This record is definitely worth a listen or two, and some of the catchier riffs will easily get stuck in your head, but I’d look elsewhere when looking for a solid post-punk record for the new year.