Iceage - "The Holding Hand"

Following last year's one-off single, Iceage are back with another stunning track of apocalyptic doom. This time courtesy of Mexican Summer. 

Over the course of four fantastic albums, Iceage have progressed from hardcore kids ready to thrash their way through a chaotic, yet brilliant, set of in your face punk to a more stylized, mature, but just as frantic and energized sound conjured up in proper studios with a professional sheen that never discredited their roots while helping to elevate them to new heights of accessibility. As they gear-up to release their fifth record, it's no surprise to find the band continuing to push forward their brazen attack into something that once again feels brand new, but immediately their own. "The Holding Hand" finds new extremes in elegance and while the pacing of this one is no match for anything on their first two releases, it is still the same dark and brooding sound they've wonderfully crafted over the past decade. The glacial pace that kicks off the song drags on throughout before things begin to accelerate with just about a minute and a half to go. It would've been easy for Iceage to stick to their guns and continue to make blazing punk sure to set a crowd on fire with force, but hearing them reach for these new plateaus and continuously reinvent themselves without ever losing themselves is what makes them one of the most exciting bands out there today. Playing it safe is never the move in punk rock and Iceage continue to take daring risks that reap high rewards.