A face-melting concoction of screamo and indie metal from the U.K.’s answer to the Blood Brothers
It’s hard to tell whether Test Icicles are hardcore mavens gone art-school or brutally insane emo kids. They pilfer components of dance punk, snotty screamo, blistering noise and careening thrash, then detonate them in an unlikely and cochlea-demolishing pop explosion. Tracks like “Circle Square Triangle” zero in on the sort of lean, propulsive New Wave that Thunderbirds are Now! owned this year; while “Catch It,” with its unholy cascade of scorched riffage and runaway percussion, evokes noise outfits like Lightning Bolt. If you’ve ever wished Les Savy Fav was just a little bit crazier, you probably shouldn’t be walking the streets unattended, but you should cop this straightaway.