I feel lucky to have discovered Icky Blossoms at an early stage. My curiosity was piqued by the involvement of Derek Pressnall, better known as one of the members of Tilly And The Wall that doesn’t tap dance (he leaves that to his wife Jamie and the other girls). It’s not a Tilly side-project though, far from it; more like an inevitable outcome of being part of the art-music scene in Omaha, Nebraska, which is where he met up with vocalist Sarah Bohling and lead guitarist Nik Fackler. Legend has it that ‘all this’ grew out of a blizzard in 2011.
I first saw them only a few months later playing upstairs in a restaurant at 2012’s SXSW. It was quirky and sweet, obviously still a band finding its feet. Fast forward precisely twelve months to the same music festival, where I was stunned to have my feet whipped from under me by just how far they’d come. Way after midnight on an outdoor stage, the band laid it ALL down in the dust, playing with compelling conviction, finishing up a thrashing twitching mess on the floor. I just had to seek out and shake Derek’s hot and sweaty hand after the set.
The album, their self titled debut, has been available for a while in the States but now sees its UK release. Which is great from my point of view, as it means I’ve been wearing out the grooves of my CD for many months, not in the “must review this” sense, but simply because I love the bloody thing to distraction. Derek introduced the band that night in Texas with “let’s make some dance music” but that’s only like half a description – it’s electro-dance sure, but in one and the same moment, pure garage rock and roll, ramshackle and throbbing. Its power is demonstrated right here, right now. Typing at 9.32am, hung-over and reluctant, I put the album on play, the opening track ‘Heat Lightning’ bounces out like an enormous Tigger, and suddenly I’m up for it. For what? What’ve you got? Bring it on!’
‘Sex To The Devil’ has a special place, mainly since hearing how, when they were playing it at a little outdoor festival in Omaha, its silly chorus – “Church to God, God to the universe, the universe to art, art to drugs, drugs to sex, sex to the Devil” so offended the good burghers of the town, it induced a local press shitstorm of offence – way to go middle America! Can’t recognise provocation in the name of art when you hear it? Then skip on three tracks to ‘Babes’ – “girls, girls, girls are babes. Killer babes”
The UK release comes with a set of remixes, usually for me the source of much “Meh!” but in the case, the job done on ‘Stark Weather’ by Haunted Gauntlet, and featuring Articulate & DJ CMB, is really something, the new rap definitely adding much more than the usual.
[Rating:4]
