Icarus Line – Penance Soiree (V2)

Listening to Penance Soiree is like getting punched in the face. It doesn’t feel that great but it’s still life-affirming. God damn it, you know you’re alive. You want to root for these Iggy-inspired bitches until you realize they’re from L.A. And then the vague shortcomings start to make sense. Yeah sure, it starts out sounding badass and abrasive, but then you realize they’re tempering it with some Janes Addicted bullshit. Hey Los Angeles, lay off the fucking chorus pedal. And while you’re at it, cut your hair, you fucking hippies. Fuck you.

Of course it’s no surprise that these are the same kids responsible for buddyhead.com, hands down the best music site on the whole fucking internet. These guys really do embody honest punk rock in 2004. While playing South by Southworst at the Hard Rock Cafe a couple years ago, they smashed a display case that held the holy relic that was a guitar signed by Stevie Ray Vaughn (Austin’s patron saint) and had the audacity to attempt to plug that bitch in and play it. They were immediately chased out of the state of Texas. That, my friends, is punk fucking rock. Fuck you.

And that’s why we are willing to forgive them their Janesisms and obvious L.A. influences and embrace this album as if it were perfect. It’s not, but it’s still refreshing. Especially from something coming straight outta Los fucking Shitsville. It scares your neighbors and when your friends walk in on you listening to this, you realize that they might think you’re a drug addict.