Review – Ice Cream Hands Rain Hail
Shine
It appears that both Michael Witheford and I ‘met’ the Icecream
Hands in the same year: Michael by
chance in Launceston,
and I through a contribution to a
fledgling Australian new music radio program by Shock! records.
Since then I have always noticed when the name Icecream
Hands appears on telephone poles and radio play lists and was more
than pleased when the latest Rubber
release landed on the desk last week.
This latest single is produced by Shane
(Rebecca’s Empire, Steve
Cummings, Paul
Kelly) O’Mara
with East Van Parks (tape assistant on many 60s pop hits-turned-music producer
in Europe) and mixed by Tim (Powderfinger, Even, Glide,
Clouds)
Whitten, and this type of pedigree almost guarantees the radio success it is
currently enjoying (on the Js at
least). Its press has proclaimed it as ‘classic Icecream
Hands’ and along with the backing tracks it seems to be the one
that will bring to Charles Jenkins et al the sales success that
has been evading the band.
The other two new tracks, Why'd You Have To Leave Me This Way and When The Bullshit Comes follow
in much the same vein, albeit more acoustic, stripped-back and vocally layered.
Track 5, Sobersides, comes from the ICH archives, dating back
to 1995, and could almost be construed as Country (as could Why’d…to be
honest). There is also quite a ‘pretty’ instrumental version of the single here
as well: the latter of which is probably going to find its way onto backing
track licensing requests from documentary makers.
Rain Hail Shine from Icecream
Hands on Rubber Records
through BMG is alternative music
at its acoustic-pop best.