Though they're routinely filed under new wave, the Icicle Works, on this, their final album together, appear to owe more to American heartland roots rock and power pop than to the synth-dominated sounds that new wave has routinely been associated with. One listen to the echo-laden guitars on "What She Did to My Mind," a song that could have come off a Neil Young and Crazy Horse album, will tell you that. Permanent Damage is accomplished, if not consistently so. It is also among the more bleak albums by the band; most of the songs are about relationships in various stages of collapse. The first release by the Icicle Works after the move from Beggars Banquet to Epic, it is the only one to feature the short-lived third and final lineup, before singer/guitarist Ian McNabb went off looking for solo success. In the absence of the two Chrises, drummer Sharrock and bassist Layhe, McNabb's singing and writing maintain the connection to the Icicle Works of old. Permanent Damage finds McNabb turning a sharp, often deliciously bitter, eye on heartbreak. He's in fine voice for the most part, imbuing the songs with an achy desolation that suits them down to the ground. The band's playing, though not incendiary, shows that their yen for hooks and singalong choruses remains intact. The first three tracks, "I Still Want You," "Motorcycle Rider," and "Melanie Still Hurts," are fast, fine, poignant, and pop as anything. Somewhere around the halfway mark, though, the quality takes a dip. "One Good Eye" and "Woman on My Mind" are slack-jawed rants, infested by hammy writing that sound as if the Works switched to autopilot after tossing off the good songs. A pity, really, because it renders uneven what could otherwise have been a fine farewell release to remember one of the great lost bands by.
© Leslie Mathew /TiVo