In Remembrance: Test Icicles
Test Icicles released one groin grabbingly great album - and then disappeared into buzz band obscurity.
When I first heard about Test Icicles I was pretty pissed. It was like, good damn, these guys came and went and nobody felt the need to inform me of their epic awesomeness? Thanks a lot, so-called friends. After listening to their chaotic, dance-hardcore sweetness I figured it was up to me to inform the masses so they won’t have to go on suffering without have experienced Test Icicles (that last bit is probably a tad pretentious as I’m sure the “masses” aren’t reading my articles).
With a sound like a collaboration between the Arctic Monkeys circa 2006 and The Blood Brothers (Take a listen, I swear), Test Icicles certainly represented a unique niche in the music world, a niche, that as of the penning of this article, I have yet to see filled (by all means tell me if you know of anyone similar). This sound may have been due, in part, to the fact that all three members played guitar and sang, although Sam Mehran occasionally played drums, and Devonte Hayes often played a microKORG synth. During their live sets, which featured all three members with guitars, they were accompanied only by an ipod, which featured the drum and bass parts of the songs.
The origin of the name was cited as being named after the process of testing large icicles for their strength to be used as weapons. However, in consideration to some of the members’ antics and the fact that their previous band was named Balls, their claims seem disputable.
Formed in 2004 by a couple of kids (Devonte Hayes and Sam Mehran were only 18 at the time), Test Icicles literally exploded onto the scene in the UK. Within months of becoming a band they were signed to Domino Records. After being signed, the band was promptly shipped off to France with producer James Ford to record their debut, and as it would turn out, only LP, For Screening Purposes Only.
For Screening Purposes Only received high marks by most critics, especially in the UK, where their singles consistently broke the top 50 of the BBC pop charts, Although the album as a whole only made it as high as 69. Test Icicles would continue to tour a remix singles, but would not record another album. Following weeks of a rumored breakup, the band finally announced their official break up in February of 2006. Citing the pressures of touring and publicity, Test Icicles called it quits after finishing an exhausting sold-out European tour, and subsequently cancelled their upcoming US tour. The band decided to perform a final 5-show UK tour as a final farewell. Along with this they released the Dig Your Own Grave EP, which featured remixes of past songs, and several rare songs from the past.
Since the break up Rory Attwell and Devonte Hayes have kept active. Sam Mehran did several short musical stints after the breakup, but has since disappeared from the radar, and is now rumored to live in New York. Rory Attwell went on to form the band RAT:ATT:AGG which released an EP and several remixes before dissolving in 2007. Devonte Haynes, now more commonly known to most as Lightspeed Champion, still records and performs actively. Haynes has also self-published his own comic book and appeared in the book, Punk Fiction: An anthology of short stories inspired by Punk.
Posted by Andrew Scott on Aug 17, 2009 @ 9:00 am