| · Go! Ask Alice.
Do you remember that feeling when you were a teenager and just started getting into music? You discovered a new band that was so amazing, you couldn’t wait to make mix tapes for all your friends. Well, Icewater Scandal will bring all those feelings back and then some with their tribute to the "alternative" ’90s. No Handle is a time machine, transporting you back to an era when fuzzy guitars, thrift store clothes and distorted sounds were all the rage. Forget those K-Tel compliations – this is the real deal.
Icewater Scandal (formally AM Radio) is a New York City three-piece and singer Andrea Hansen seems to be channeling spirits from her well-stocked record collection. The band has an obvious love for all things psychedelic, referencing ‘60s giants like Jefferson Airplane and combining it with ’70s New York punk rock. Put it this way, if a flower child had a love child with Legs McNeil, No Handle would be the result of hours of lovemaking.
Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo produced the album and it’s easy to hear his influence – especially with all the glorious guitar noise that filters throughout most of the record. "Muddy Blue" and"Banana Splat" sound like they could be hidden tracks on a long lost Pavement album. Icewater Scandal successfully pays homage to their influences by making their sound their own – well, sort of, but who cares.
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