Iodine
Baby Grand
Sol 3
Sometimes the only requirement for liking a record is that the music sounds good. No one will accuse Iodine of forgetting their influences on this charming roundup of various post-punk style tunes punctuated with arena rock power chords and a mildly psychotic, grunge-folk groove. Obvious influences include the Pixies (“Sons of Belial” and “Cyclops”), Replacements (The desperate musings of a potential suicide on “Swan Dive”) and Jane’s Addiction (everything else). “Dark Star,” with its hypnotic tremolo guitar offers a tasty drug trip travelogue (“They think I’m high/and I’m freakin’ out/I can’t come down”) that bows deeply towards Neil Young. “Monkey Disease” is a goofy rave up about herpes (“You got that Monkey disease/You got that bump on your lip) or maybe it’s just about having whatever passes for cooties these days. “Uninvited” portrays High School peer group ostracism with a punk sensibility that would make the Circle Jerks proud, and “Hayfield Shapemaker” gets originality bonus points for being a love song built around the crop circle enigma. Iodine’s Baby Grand accomplishes a feat of emotional noise done nearly to perfection. I like it. Isn’t that enough? Sol 3 Recording Corporation, 45 Orchard Street Suite GFW, New York NY 10002
