Icarus Himself are a spinoff of the National Beekeepers Society, featuring Nick Whetro and Karl Christenson.
Their new recording, Coffins, gets a boost from some of the best young indie rock artists around, including Elliott Kozel and Michael Sienkowski. As you might expect, Coffins brims with quirky, experimental guitar rock.
The title track is a sweeping and poignant acoustic guitar ballad. The protagonist is a victim of relationship abuse, and as the melody swells to its dreamiest heights, her pain is palpable.
There's enough twang, Southern references and hillbilly heartache in Coffins to register the recording as No Depression. The abruptly ending "Flatwoods, WV" is one such track.
Coffins is another example of why indie bands have been recently leading the way in local music creativity.
