Fever in the Ice Age

Album Review

Fever in the Ice Age, 3d5spd's first album release, is a trippy mix of crunchy guitars, keyboard-driven space rock and sprawling prog rock in the vein of a less funky Jane's Addiction. From the '70s-inflected """LightWeight""" to the ethereal, Q and Not U vibe on """Clarity,""" the record is consistently challenging and relentlessly catchy. At one moment, the keyboards will have listeners wondering, "is this new wave?" the next, the vocals will sound like psychedelic metal ("""Red Wire"""), then the groove will turn '80s and from there it might spiral into something like Spiritualized. Plus, there's """Celsius One,""" """Celsius Two,""" and """Celsius Three,""" — beautiful, damaged pieces of analog synthesizer; ambient noise that buffers the songs on the second half of the album. This may sound all over the place, but Fever in the Ice Age still manages to be one of the most consistent releases of 2002 and marks 3d5spd as a band to pay attention to.