{"product_id":"icky-mettle","title":"Icky Mettle","description":"\u003cp\u003eNo single trend in 1990s indie rock can be traced back to Archers of Loaf. They weren't quite \"lo-fi,\" they weren't quite \"slackers,\" their guitars weren't quite \"noisy\" and their drums weren't quite \"mathy.\" Eric Bachmann's vocals were gritty and visceral, but his lyrics were oblique and cerebral. Archers of Loafthrived on subtle contradictions, on purposeful vagaries, on tentative gestures delivered with utmost conviction. They released increasingly adventurous records for five years, and broke up with minimal drama or fanfare. This perfectly captures the energy of the band's early days, from their slapdash first singles to the scrappybrilliance of Icky Mettle itself to the more honed recordings that followed. Released on the heels of some well-received singles and a buzzed-about performance at the CMJ Music Marathon in New York, \u003ci\u003eIcky Mettle\u003c\/i\u003e was a hotly anticipated debut. To say it starts on a strong note would be an understatement; opener \u003ci\u003eWeb in Front\u003c\/i\u003e is quite simply among the finest indie rock songs everwritten. That a song whose lyrics are all but impossible to parse literally comes off as so immediate and relatable speaks both to Bachmann's skill with words-as-sounds, and to his bandmates' ability to put force and nuance behind his voice. Much of the credit here belongs to guitarist Eric Johnson, whose melodic and fluttery guitar parts seem to hammer the very emotional notes that Bachmann's words intentionally skirt. The second disc compiles the excellent \u003ci\u003eVs. the Greatest of All Time \u003c\/i\u003eEP and the early singles that were previously included on the \u003ci\u003eSpeed of Cattle \u003c\/i\u003ecompilation. The five songs from \u003ci\u003eVs. the Greatest of All Time\u003c\/i\u003e hint at the more spacious and muscular sound that the band would cultivate on their sophomore LP, \u003ci\u003eVee Vee\u003c\/i\u003e, while early 7\" versions of \u003ci\u003eWrong\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eWeb in Front\u003c\/i\u003e are disjointed and flaccid previews of their album counterparts. Uncertainty has never sounded so much like a rallying cry.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Merge Records","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50446348616011,"sku":"342486","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD | x2","offer_id":50446348157259,"sku":"342485","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/8188efc3-ceab-45e5-b6cb-8b84d6ed51f1_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727058112","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/products\/icky-mettle","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}