The Icarus Line

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The Icarus Line
Origin Hollywood, California, USA
Genre(s) Post-hardcore
Alternative Rock
Years active 1998–present
Label(s) Buddyhead, Crank!, Hellcat, V2
Associated acts Nine Inch Nails, Souls She Said, Ink & Dagger, Kanker Sores
Website Official Myspace
Members
Joe Cardamone
Alvin DeGuzman
Jason DeCorse
James Striff
Devon Monet Ashley
Former members
Jeff Watson
Aaron Austin
John Guerra
Mike Felix
Troy Petrey
Don Devore
Aaron North
Lance Arnao

The Icarus Line is a rock band from Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The band is known for playing a very abrasive form of rock music both compliant and contrary to music trends from the late 1990s and early 2000s. The band has also received considerable notoriety for their loud, energetic stageshows and for their seemingly reckless or "tough" attitude off-stage.


Contents

[edit] History

In 1996, Aaron North (who had been working at Revelation Records with Joe Cardamone) and Lance Arnao joined straight edge Hardcore band Kanker Sores who's other members at the time included Joe Caramone and Alvin DeGuzman. In 1997, the drummer of Kanker Sores was killed in a car accident and the band called it quits. The next year, North and Cardamone gathered the survivine Kanker Sores members and formed The Icarus Line.

Shortly after forming, the band recorded and released their first 7" EP Highlypuncturingnoisetestingyourabilitytohate. With this release, the band showcased a new Post-hardcore sound that they would continually expand on in the future. The Icarus Line toured briefly supporting various other artists (including Ink & Dagger, who's bassist Don Devore would later join The Icarus Line). After the touring ended, the band recruited former Kanker Sores guitarist Alvin DeGuzman and went on to record another EP titled Red And Black Attack. The name of the EP stems from the "uniform" the band adopted for their shows; dressed in all black with the exception of a red necktie. Red And Black Attack expanded further on the bands style from Highlypuncturingnoisetestingyourabilitytohate by playing longer, more complex songs. The Icarus Line proceeded to tour once again in support for the new EP. In late 1998, Aaron North and Travis Keller (whom Aaron met while on tour with The Icarus Line earlier that year) created Buddyhead. Aaron North and Joe Cardamone became frequent "reviewers" on the website, often giving harsh or ridiculously biased reviews; sometimes not even listening to the album in question before reviewing it. In 2000, at a Valentines Day show, The Icarus Line released Kill Cupid With A Nail File to those in attendance. This became the first release on Buddyhead Records.

By the time the band began recording their first debut album, Mono, they had already gone through four different drummers. With the recently recruited Jeff Watson on drums, the band recorded Mono and began a two year world tour in support of it. Shortly after the tour began at a show in Texas, Aaron North broke into a memorabilia case at the club to take out the framed guitar inside, in order to play it. Unbeknownst to the band, the guitar had once belonged to Stevie Ray Vaughan. The incident was widely reported in rock journalism circles and earned the band a large amount of hate from Texans who even went so far as to send the band death threats. The band gained a large amount of new fans when they played the Reading festival in August 2002. Several songs from their set were broadcast by John Peel to many who had never heard of the band before. The Icarus Line also gathered a large following in Japan after playing at the Summer Sonic festival in October of that same year. Mono was soon released domestically in Japan after this.

In 2003, an EP titled Three Jesus Songs was put out to promote the upcoming second album. The EP featured two entirely new songs plus one (Kiss Like Lizards) that had been played live during the tour in support for Mono. Three Jesus Songs also debuted new bassist Don Devore, who had been a member of Ink & Dagger. In 2004, the bands second album, Penance Soiree was released and the band began another two year tour in support of the new album.

After the conclusion of the tour, Aaron North left the band due to Joe Cardamone becoming harder to work with and demanding more and more control over the band. North played solo shows in Los Angeles clubs before being recruited by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. North's departure led the band into a year of inactivity until the release of Black Presents, an EP serving the same purpose as Three Jesus Songs. During this time, the band played in a single guitarist format. In 2007, The Icarus Line released Black Lives At The Golden Coast. Shortly before the tour in support of the album, Joe Cardamone proceeded to fire the entire band aside from Alvin DeGuzman (who switched to bass guitar at this point) and assemble a new band for the tour. Currently, The Icarus Line are on a short hiatus and preparing to release a live album/DVD entitled Black Living At Little Joy. Two tracks have been released for free on their Myspace page.


[edit] Discography

[edit] EPs

[edit] Albums

[edit] Singles

  • Kill Cupid With A Nail File (2000)
  • Feed A Cat To Your Cobra (2001)
  • Love Is Happiness (2003)
  • Up Against The Wall, Motherfuckers (2004)
  • Party The Baby Off (2004)
  • On The Lash (2004)
  • Gets Paid (2007)

[edit] Splits

  • w/ Ink & Dagger (We're Never Gonna Make It) (1998)
  • w/ Burning Brides (Angelfuck) (2002)

[edit] References

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