‘Appointment With Destiny’ is the latest release from Seattle underground band THE ICONS, who number Tom Dyer on guitar, vocals, synth and theremin, James Gascoigne on drums, Rick Yust on bass and vocals, and Steve Trettevik on guitar and vocals. This is their second release, which follows on from 1986’s ‘Masters of Disaster’, which must put them into the record books for least speedy follow up album. That said, it’s pretty good, with some catchy hook lines and some memorable choruses.
The album has sixteen tracks on it, which on the back cover are split into two sides. The CD cover in itself warrants mention. Rather like The Groundhogs ‘Who Will Save The World?’ art it takes the form of a comic book with each member of the band in a superhero role (drawn by LA artist Martin Cannon) and also includes a double sided single page comic insert. This is done with tongue firmly in cheek, (on the inner sleeve Steve Trettevik AKA Stevie Nations tells the listener “Hey kids, wanna be super like me? It’s easy! Just get your mom’s credit card from her purse and send me the number” which shows that the band have a great sense of humour and don’t take themselves too seriously, which is a refreshing change from the norm.
Tracks that really stand out on the album are: - ‘You’re the One’, a fresh jangly guitar pop tune, with vocals that follow an almost doo wop styling. The lyrics detail the classic story of love: - “Say you’ll never go, and say our love will grow; tell me that you’ll never leave me.” There’s also a great guitar solo which references the style of half of the poppier post-punk groups, and makes the song a perfect opener.
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‘X-Ray’, which is a brilliant slice of Dr. Feelgood style R & B complete with a spiky, choppy Wilco Johnson style guitar line, and some lyrics that fit the tune well: - “I went down to the clinic, I saw this pretty nurse/ I felt bad when I got there, then I felt much worse.” The sound is bolstered by keys and organ, and is the sort of track you’d expect to find on the juke-box of some brilliantly seedy night spot.
‘You Never Have Time’ is slightly heavier, but is a slightly bitter post punk song all about being on the receiving end of unrequited love: - “You seem so different from yesterday, you never hear a single word I say/ What’s happened to you anyway? You never have time for me.” This is similar in a lot of ways to Pete Shelley’s work with The Buzzcocks, and works really well, reflecting teenage angst, although the band are way beyond their teens!
‘Twenty-Five’, a guitar and organ based song that is a modern day garage rock classic, with dispassionate lyrics and a great hook line: “Young man died yesterday. It was early in the morning/ And though he was my neighbour, I didn’t really know him.”
Overall, this is a good album which combines the best of post punk, guitar rock and garage rock, with a second album as good as this, I certainly hope the next one won’t take another twenty five years!
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