Icehouse fail

Press, 12 June 1986, Page 18

Icehouse fail

ICEHOUSE “Measure For Measure” (Regular RML52060). It seems ironic that Roxy Music’s producer, Rhett Davies, should be behind the controls on five tracks of this album. Icehouse, a.k.a. Iva Davies, has always contended that his vocal similarity to Bryan Ferry has always been coincidental, but from the opening two tracks one might not be so sure.

What seems to offend a lot of people is that Iva Davies is a bit of a oneman band, and it certainly is evident here. As another critic has written, Davies appears to have been in a time warp during the punk revolution, so that his music goes back to the giant syn-thesizer-style group of the 70s. Indeed, there are tracks that are reminiscent of Roxy Music and David Bowie sprinkled through the album.

Both “Paradise” and the single, “No Promises,” recall Ferry’s style. Certainly, the single is not in the clear, pop-style version of “Hey, Little Girl,” which hung in the charts in 1983. “Lucky Me” seem to chase the style that Bowie used on “Heroes,” with the same kind of mixed-up keyboards music.

Personally, the est song is “Angel Street,”’, because of its and also because it has,* some of the flavour of’, early Al Stewart — other slightly wimpish 70s? character. ’ t* No amount of being corded in London and;, mixed in Bath is gbing to** help here. “Measure for!? just does not* measure up with what is' happening in rock music * today. It should be put the anachronistic bin. —NEVIN TOPP.J