Review: The Gothsicles – 'Squid Icarus'

THE GOTHSICLES
'Squid Icarus'
NEGATIVE GAIN PRODUCTIONS

The Gothsicles return with their fourth love letter to geek culture in 'Squid Icarus'. The result of a successful Kickstarter campaign, Brian Graupner and his band of reprobates embark on their most club-friendly and well-rounded outing to date. The classic Gothsicle elements are all present such as Graupner's bat-shit crazy vocals, the 8-bit leads, and of course more nerdy nods than anyone would rightly admit to getting.

With production talents from the likes of Assemblage 23, Faderhead, Rotersand, Christ Analogue, and Haujobb and collaborations with Cyferdyne and Angelspit the album is essentially an ebm wet dream.

Songs such as 'Drop Dead, Squid Face!', 'Ultrasweaty', 'I Sniffed The Glove', 'Moon Knight Is Cool', 'Black T-Shirt', 'Cthulhu Fhartwagon', and 'This Club Is Closed' prove to be some of the strongest yet to emerge out of the band's maniacal discography so far. It's just as crazy and experimental as ever but it has that ever-present club-friendly leaning and most importantly it captures the infectious energy that they bring to their live shows.

As mentioned before, with a list of names like that, the production is going to be spot on. Even with all the different elements flailing about in the mix it keeps its composure and keeps everything accessible. In fact, everything, from the high-fashion album cover, to the song writing and production is the best it has been yet.

There will still be the usual complaints. Graupner's vocals are a matter of taste and if you don't like chiptune elements then this is really best to avoid. But if you're adventurous, up on your Lovecraft, or just a bit wrong in the head, then this album is definitely worth your time.

With 'Squid Icarus' The Gothsicles have reached their potential and cast off the “joke band” tag. The album is an outright club assault that has plenty of potential dance-floor fillers. It's going to be interesting then to see how they can top this.  

Posted in: music,squid icarus,the gothsicles