THERE'S A BEE IN HERE

Well this is a bit of indie rock with some progressive influences that should be mildly interesting to fans of instrumental eclectic avant-garde music. Iced Ink are a band from the Twin Cities, Minnesota area who have formed, broken up and reformed several times over the past decade including stints in New York and the addition (after this release) of a transplanted Wisconsinite they ran into in Brooklyn.

Honestly the band's story and various inside jokes surrounding their song titles are more interesting than the music, although I do sort of admire their ability to blend ska, rock, a little punk and a touch of eighties skateboard music into something that resembles the Dead Milkmen trying to cover Zappa tunes with Explosions in the Sky backing them. There's an audio picture if you can imagine it.

The song titles are hilarious, as are some of the stories behind them which you can read about on the band's website and various blogs thanks to the investigative powers granted you by your browser and Google. For example, "The World According to a Drunken Trendy Asshole" is a raw drum-driven tribute to an audience member from one of their concerts who apparently informed the group that they "blew more than trumpets" (not a compliment for any non-native English speakers who might be wondering). And "Anorexiporn" is a suspiciously similar-sounding tune that includes some bent guitar riffs in memory of an email attachment "you just don't want to see". It seems these guys spent more time amusing themselves and each other while writing these songs than they did concentrating on producing anything of substance.

Still, the tracks are energetic and seemingly heartfelt if not stellar, and you have to admire a group that manages to keep trucking after a decade even though their 'career' story reads something like the Anvil movie. Long live rock and roll indeed!

I like the theme of "Buy Me Toys" which is almost identical to Joe Jackson's 70s punk-pop power hit "I'm the Man"; and "Spin Cycle" that is dedicated to some chick who found love in the vibrations of her washing machine (I think I saw that in a made-for-TV movie way back when).

Nothing much in the line of progressive or even memorable music here, but a fun little album that's mildly amusing if you happen to run across it. Not likely given it was released on the largely unknown Painted Air label, but if you happen to be trolling around a used record store in a Northeastern U.S. college town like I was you just might catch a glimpse. If you do go ahead and fork out the $4 and amuse yourself for a few minutes. Two stars for me, maybe three for avant-garde or indie fans.

peace