Icky Mettle [Import]

Editorial Reviews
Album Details
Japanese Version featuring Bonus Tracks. No Additional Information Available at this Time.

Tracks:

Web in Front
Last Word
Wrong
You and Me
Might
Hate Paste
Fat
Plumb Line
Learo, You're a Hole
Sick File
Toast
Backwash
Slow Worm

Amazon.com

Like fellow indie rockers Pavement, Archers of Loaf excel in making uneasy-listening pop, with sharp, angular guitars jutting this way and that, barring the listener from turning any corner without a little work. Vocalist/guitarist Eric Bachmann is as committed a rock singer as you'll find, impressively following every note with vocal cords stretched as far as they'll go. The two guitars caterwaul like trapped animals; the rhythm section churns out a solid, scary backbeat, gluing the whole mess together into one surprisingly powerful whole. The raging, relentless "Last Word" stands as a shining example of college rock circa 1993. --Lorry Fleming

Customer Reviews:

Best archer album.......2007-05-16

This is to me the best Archers of Loaf album out there. It is one of the only albums that I can listen to all the way through without skipping tracks, it flows perfect and keeps the listener entertained.

Web in front: One of the best songs on the album, it's catchy, and the lyrics keep you hooked the whole time. It's a song that will be stuck in your head for weeks.

Last word: One of my favorite songs on the album, it's just a great song, with great lyrics and melodic guitar riffs that get you lost in the best possible way, then when you think there's no way out, the lyrics storm back and hook you in. There's no escaping it.

Wrong: Pure Archers at their best, it sounds almost like a pixies song, great all the way around.

You and me: Very calm, but still a great song, and just when it gets really slow, guitar saves the day by breaking through, with lyrical blasts. good song.

Might: Good song. great guitar, great lyrics.

Hate paste: One of my favorites on the album, it starts off with folky guitar, then joins heavy riffs and great lyrics. great song, keeps the album interesting.

Fat: Another great song. Lyrics keep you hooked and wondering.

Plumbline: One of my favorites, very catchy.

Learo you're a hole: Very weird song, keeps the album interesting, still a good song, just not one of my favorites.

Sickfile: Starts off right away with 100 mph guitar and even faster lyrics. great song.

Toast: One of the calmer songs. It takes a while to get hooked on this one, but i guarentee you'll love it after a few listens.

Backwash: Great song, great guitar, great lyrics, the usual archer greatness.

Slowworm: One of my favorites on the album, if not my favorite. It's slower than most of the tracks, but it's got great guitar, and even better lyrics.

All you had to do was listen to it and you instantly understood the full glory of indie rock.......2006-09-05

Must be something about summertime and the feeling of nostalgia and memories of my younger days that has had me going crazy over some of my favorite '90s indie rock records as of late. Recent reviews prove this, as reissues of Sebadoh and Spoon classics received my record of the week honors. Truth be told Icky Mettle is just as qualified for that honor as well. There was a period during the '90s when I used to joke that if you looked up "indie rock" in the dictionary you would find a picture of Archers of Loaf's Icky Mettle. But really, I sort of wasn't joking. All you had to do was listen to it and you instantly understood the full glory of indie rock and how totally heavy and wild and kick a-- and catchy indie rock could be. Guitars are crunchy and jagged, ringing loud and true, vocals soaring, melodies you can't EVER get out of your head, and a passionate urgency that makes your heart race and your soul shiver. It's pretty serendipitous that this record just got reissued as it's been playing around here quite a bit, Irwin rediscovered it earlier this summer, it's been rocking Andee's iPod quite a bit lately, and it gets played in the store NON-STOP!!

There is not a dud on this album... it's almost like Archers of Loaf made us the most perfect indie rock mix tape ever, except it's their entire album! The track "Web In Front" might just be THE GREATEST INDIE ROCK SONG EVER. If it's not, it's definitely top five. It jangles, it totally rocks, the vocasl are super intense but completely melodic, the arrangement is bizarre and the parts unlikely, but that only serves to make it that much more unique and unforgettable.

I can't count the times in the past that I've put songs from this record on mixes I've made for friends, crushes, boyfriends, girlfriends, etc. It's got it all: the angst, the heartbreak, the longing, the anger, the catchy hooks, even the quintessential anthem about indie rockers. What a debut full length from a band adrift in a veritable sea of indie rock revolution, the next Seattle, Chapel Hill, NC. Helping to raise the bar for all their peers and proteges (Superchunk, Polvo, Pavement, etc.). This is not just some indie rock nostalgia trip, a longing for some unattainable indie rock heyday, this record has totally stood the test of time and still pretty much blows away any pop, rock or indie rock record you care to stack up against it. So utterly and completely and impossibly essential!!

late indie.......2006-02-27

meddling with indie rock history.......2004-07-12

great album, their first and best. i'm not a huge fan of the band, i detest most of what came after this record...but i saw it on the 5-dollar shelf at wuxtry records, and i had to get it. one of the first great indie rock albums (circa '93). hard-edged guitars, unique vocal stylings, good lyrics. an album you can drive around the suburbs to, happily angered at what you see. good stuff.

Scrappy Little Wonderful Mess.......2004-05-22

Icky Mettle is a jarring, brutal, left-of-center forgotten wonder of early 90's indie rock, an album which contains one of the best rock songs of the decade ("Web In Front"). The rest of the album is on par with that minor hit, but not as immediately so. Sounding like Pavement as filtered through the dirty noise of the Stooges and early Dinosaur Jr., the Archers Of Loaf deliver a good number of bitter, loud, and angry bursts of energy. Such a premise might sound pretty derivative on paper, but the gritty vocals of Eric Bachmann and the ridiculous energy of the band are beyond compare. This album is a wet dream for indie rock fans looking for the oft-desired, and not always expertly executed, concept of pop and noise. Just listen to the way "Backwash" turns into a frenzy of distorted everything for proof of this group's skill. These Archers Of Loaf are liberal with the feedback and distortion, and thus Icky Mettle remains a lost gem on par with the best work of Superchunk and Pavement.

Average customer rating:

Icky Mettle
Archers of Loaf
Manufacturer: Import [Generic]
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Alternative Rock | Imports | Stores | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music

Pop | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00000I78M
Release Date: 1999-05-25

Tracks:

Web in Front
Last Word
Wrong
You and Me
Right
Hate Paste
Fat
Plumbline
Learo, You're a Hole
Sick File
Toast
Backwash
Slow Worm
Audiowhore [*]
Lowest Part Is Free [*]

Album Details

Japanese Version featuring Bonus Tracks. No Additional Information Available at this Time.

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