Penance Soiree

Like any millennial, I am often nostalgic for the 00s and my formative years. But please, no more mid 00s frat bro rock.

I liked the energy and grunginess, but as it went on it became more forgettable. Wouldn't revisit.

Just alt hard rock. Everything hit you in the face but not necessarily in a great way. Nothing was overly special or different, it just was.

No thanks. Too noisy & couldn't get into it.

This sounds like every single rock album made between 2000 and 2005. Absolutely nothing special going on here and it does not deserve to be on this list.

This was noisy and mostly annoying.

They tried

Mostly noise and nothing particularly groundbreaking.

Had absolutely no idea this existed. Rare occurrence on this list. Not life changing otherwise. .

mid

Not my genre of music at all, but it was easy enough to put on in the background. Just not for me personally.

Decent album but not super interesting for me

Not for me, really

In 1997, the band Sleater-Kinney proclaimed "words and guitar, I want it", well this is words and guitar and I don't want it.

Had a few cool riffs and licks but did not really get into any song as a whole. It's like White Stripes / Iggy Pop without good hooks.

Too heavy heavy

Raw, garage-ey rock

Gets a bit annoying after a while. Rock

Noise. Penance or Punishment Party? Didn't love, can't hate. Previously listened: N Saved tracks: N Favorite tracks: none ⭐⭐

Sometimes my assigned album is a nice way to start the day. This is not one of those days. I just hear noise. Seriously, what are the criteria for this list? Well, I definitely did not expect that saxophone. Huh. Listened before? N Saved to library? N Favorite track(s): N/A ⭐⭐: Didn't like it, didn't hate it. Saved no tracks.

Among some pretty bad selections I’ve been getting on here lately

Incoherent, loud, shit mixing.

★½

Nope. Not for me. 3/10

Nah

At least it's not Kanye?

This one felt like déjà vu in leather pants. Between the sleazy riffs, messy distortion, and over-the-top swagger, it’s less “fresh chaos” and more “already done a dozen times by better bands.” I struggled to find any real spark of originality here.

Vocals sit somewhere between Tom Verlaine, Iggy Pop and Trent Reznor. Instrumentals leave a lot to be desired - but kind of understand what could be considered shocking for 2004. No real standout songs other than maybe Spike Island

There are a lot of other Hellcat bands that people probably aren’t familiar with that are more worthy of being on this list. I never got hooked here.

Loud. Ok.

No es malo, pero no es mi gusto. rock con poco color.

Listened, but mostly didn't like. Unclear why I needed to listen to this. A few catchy tunes doesn't outweigh the middling quality of the whole.

Meh.

2/5 - I didn’t need to hear this album, and I almost didn’t make it through. I’d like to either have some groove or some melody with my noise, and this had neither for me. Generally annoying, but I can see how some would find merit in it, so it’s a 2.

Nie ma dramatu, ale do słuchania samemu, albo na kossach albo dobre głośniki w aucie

Title of first song turned me off.

Not as bad as the global reviews but still not good

2.5

*Penance Soiree* Starting from the opening track I thought I was actually going to like this album. Starting from the second track I realized I am going to hate this album. Honestly this was really a mixed bag of songs that I liked "Up Against the Wall Motherfucker", "Spike Island", and "Getting Bright At Night" a bunch of generic 2K aughts rock "On the Lash", "Virgin Velcro", "Party the Bsby Off", and utter crapfest... Pretty much the rest of the album. The Crapfest won the overall rating for me. (4.4) ★★

Mediocre indie from 00s. 2.5 stars

Quite the hot and noisy 00s indie landfill entry. Whether it’s yelpy Pitchfork party jams or extended hardcore suites it just does it super run of the mill and average like. Not one riff or melody that sticks. It might have a place on NME’s top 1001 albums coming out in May 2004 but definitely not here.

I really wanted to like this album. Hardcore and rock are usually right in my wheelhouse, but this one just did not land at all. Instead of feeling powerful or raw, it leaned too far into the noise rock side of things without the depth or craft needed to pull it off. The problem is not the chaos itself but the lack of direction. Good noise rock, like what Sonic Youth managed to do, has an edge of talent and structure behind the mess. Penance Soiree feels like it’s trying to go for that vibe but ends up sounding sloppy and hollow.

I think I'm just mad its not on Spotify. Some interesting melodies, I guess it sounds like a noisier deftones? I don't think it goes harder with the screams, it has a weird rock and rolly-vibe, but the guitar is so noisey

Not good.

Metal and me do not mesh

Karmeeta meteliä ja melua! Sitten ihan järkevääkin tilutusta ja rokkia nopealla tahdilla.

I was under the impression that these 1001 records were curated by a panel of respected music critics, but sometimes I come across a record that just makes me scratch my head as to why it was included. Icarus Line’s Penance Soirée is one of those for me. What impact did this record make on anyone? Like, noisy garage rock is not an unknown genre to me, and in the 20+ years since this album’s release, this is the first time I’ve ever heard of this band or album. Not only have I never heard it, but I’ve never heard anyone mention it, and my friends are music nerds that listen to weird shit sometimes. I’ve never heard of another band or publication mention them. If this was some landmark achievement for the genre, I feel like I should’ve heard of it long before now. I’m not the end all, be all of music listeners, and it’s certainly plausible that some bit of arthouse greatness slipped under my radar, but I still think it’s weird that this obscure record—that I can’t imagine has made much of an impact on too many people—has made it on this list…and especially more so now as I’m actively listening to it. It’s not that it’s altogether bad. There are bits here and there that are interesting. But the songs kind of drone on without going anywhere. Nothing about this record really moves me at all. It’s not bad, but it’s not what I would call good either. For as much audio space as this band takes up, I don’t really find it rich or compelling in any way. I’m mostly just curious: what about this record stood out so much to whoever curated this project that they would include it? There are many worse albums on this project, but some of those I actually understand why they would have been showcased here; this one is a head scratcher and a hard 2 stars for me. 2.0/5

More like the Icarus lame. This was just ok. Not terrible but just there. Musical purgatory. Top Tracks-ish: "On the lash," "Kiss like lizards"

--Up Against the Wall Motherfucker...huh. At least this will be interesting --Spit On It...oof this might be a slog --On a Lash...this almost sounds like a song --Caviar...okay, I like the bass groove on this one. Not much else --Spike Island...I feel more connected with what they're trying to do here. This is still strange but feels like a complete song --Kiss Like Lizards...there's a cool guitar solo buried in the random noise --Getting Bright at Night...9 minute epic with a build. I like this more than the random loudness of other tracks --Big Sleep...takes two minutes to get going but then it's pretty good --White Devil...channeling Marilyn Manson here. Not a compliment --Meatmaker (US version)...wat --Virgin Velcro...this one lost me with the title. It kind of rocks, I guess --Sea Sick...slog of a song on slog of an album --Party the Baby Off...it has the cadence of a pop song

generic rock, nothing too good or bad

Not my cup of tea

Not on Spotify and I think I see why.

Yeah this was super not for me. Who is this for?

it's fine, maybe i'll give it another go.

There isn't an inch of space on this album; every last moment is filled with some sort of sound. I think that's why the song structures all feel so flat, and no track stands out to me. They need a chance to breathe.

generic noughties garage rock

Somewhat appreciate the punk noise, but nothing memorable here.

never heard of this. now i know why

Album was a nothing burger, not sure why it's on any list. Too generic 2000's absolutely no standouts or reason to listen again.

An extreme case of the 'why is this on here's. It's just got bog all to it really. It's not bad, so it's in the twos, but there is literally nothing to really make it stand out in any way.

Didn't finish listening to it. Got through the first couple of songs, but they failed to catch my attention. 2 stars and not 1 because I don't actively dislike the album, I just did not find anything to really like

Uninteresting and unremarkable noise rock from a band I've never heard of. Got bored within the first few minutes and it never recovered.

These guys took the good parts of other better bands and made them less interesting and good.

Can’t really put my finger on a single thing this album has going for it. I’m not sure I’ll remember much of anything at all about this record. Maybe it’s good to put on in the background, but it certainly wasn’t easy to follow along with what the guy was singing about. It seemed like the band was into their general aesthetics as much as they were into the substance of the music they made on this project. “On The Lash” was alright? This just wasn’t hitting for me. The constant saturation wasn’t an additive feature to give the music more texture or character, it just made it all blend into a gritty wall of sound. The closest Ive come to liking anything like this was enjoying U2’s “Vertigo” passively as a kid. James Addiction, this album, and anything else that sound like it have never done it for me. If you couldn’t give up a rigid allegiance to rock n roll in 2004, maybe you got something out of this. 2/5

Never heard of them before - doesn't seem to me that they add much to the world of rock music - mediocre

I don’t know what this was

Bruh i ain’t listening to all that.(again)

Started ok, got boring quick

Okay, like a worse Strokes but more noise rock oriented.

Wasn't the worst I have heard but could of done with out it.

If you ever... thought to yourself... man, i haven't had a good headache in a while! well... i have the record for you... put this cow patty on... and let nature take its course... if you like headaches... if pain is what turns you on... if grooving, or being sexy is NOT your thing... if you think it's cool and rebellious to whine over a cacophony of "sound"... to my, old fuddy duddy, ear... it reminds me of Jane's Addiction... but less tuneful... so basically... if you enjoy that sort of thing... you would give this album five stars... "Spike Island" is a pretty good song... easily the best on this hockey puck... "Kiss Like Lizards"... lol... is this a mating call for young folks back in the early 2000's??? all i can say is it take major COJONES... and a dodgy ear to have the chutzpa to go and put this sort of thing out... i would imagine this song is like the anti viagra... for young folks with too much wood... listen to this... and bring it down a couple notches so you don't kill your girlfriend during a netflix and chill... on the bright side... "Getting Bright At Night"... is sort of good... but 9 minutes long... "Big Sleep" is a pretty good rocker... must be said... as is "White Devil"... the opener "Up Against the Wall Motherf*ckers"... is an ok opener... the rest of the record is noise... i THINK they were trying to make a more modern Exile on Main St... but... The Stones were raw... and TUNEFUL... with swagger... and panache... where this one is the opposite... five stars if you are under 45... two stars for me... for the songs i mentioned...

I don’t really like it, it’s very heavy and grungy and I can’t understand what they’re saying or what it’s about. It’s not awful just not for me. By the third song I was ready to give up with it. The singer sounds very whiney and kinda sleepy like a high person complaining about something

Noisy and uninteresting.

It is really not as bad as I was expecting. I was expecting noise, but there was some ok songs in there. 70% noise and 30% okay. Not going to lie..had to skip lots of tracks though. 2 stars

Ugh. It gets one point off the bottom because I feel these guys feel whatever these terrible feelings being expressed are, but this kind of grooveless fight club music just doesn't do it for me.

I listened to this without knowing anything about it and 8 hours later cannot recall one hook or bridge. My mental note was sounds like a band influenced by Spoon who has literally heard nothing else but can't write a catchy song. Inoffensive but forgettable and should not be on the list.

It was a noisy alt rock album, not worth the time it took listening to it and finding it online as it wasn’t on Spotify for me.

This is so mediocre. There's nothing particularly interesting. No hooks. Just a bunch of bland rock. I don't care.

Never heard of this band before. Album not on Spotify. Not on YT Music, either. Don't appear to be a popular band so curious to see what makes them worthy of a list spot. I am enjoying the first couple songs after finding a YouTube playlist of them. Noisy, unpolished, grungy, but surprisingly original too. Not quite sure exactly what I'm listening to, but clearly there's some passion in this band. I mean the album is garbage, but it's beautiful garbage.

Ok 2/5

A minor drop in the wave of millennial garage rock revival. Howling vocals, amazingly scuzzy guitars, big banging drums, driving riffs and touch of electronica. Good fun but pretty generic. A bunch of LA dudes had the brilliant idea of being the Stooges.

sounds like Marilyn Manson took over as the lead singer of Jane's Addiction, and they took away almost all of the song structure. I listened to this album 2-3 times to see if I was missing something. Turns out, I was not.

Punk humps Grunge; both left unsatisfied.

Would enjoy the album more if it were just the first track.

Why was this highly rated? This is just sort of painful to listen to.

The first few songs were okay, but it just got so repetitive. Sounds like knock off Jack White.

Mix is HORRIBLE. and to read in the bio that there were issues over the mix and THIS is what they chose?! Geez. I get it - grunge, messy, dissonant, but I think of something like ‘Deloused..’ and how important the mix is on that and this is what happens when that’s not there. Horrible and feel like I can’t hear or appreciate the songs properly because of it. And also just a bit repetitive. Messy nothingness. A lucky 2*

This is not a bad album. It's not a good album, but it's not terrible. It's just completely pointless and forgettable.

Too noisy and unresolved. Could've been good otherwise. 2/5

Wurde schon etwas nervig nach einiger Zeit, war aber auch nicht in der Stimmung dafür.

Just solid alternative/garage rock. But sometimes on the edge to annoying.

This did nothing for me. It didn’t engage me. It didn’t excite me the way rock music should. At times it was verging on boring ripping over into downright annoying. Never heard of them and don’t get why this is here.

Fuckin noise. One song wasn’t bad

Very much just noisy. The energy is great, people who like this sort of thing probably love it. It's just not for me.

shouty, noisy riffs, but no tunes

Most remarkable thing about this is that someone remembered the album in order to put it on the list.

The genre of the album could just be described as “noise.” Like I could barely hear the vocalist over the instruments, and sometimes that’s okay, but I also wasn’t drawn in by the musical part of it either. There were no memorable rifts or catchy hooks or anything.

It’s a very muddy sound. Never quite sure what they’re trying to make me listen to.

I’m always glad to hear rock music on this list. However this is shit music. It’s boring, repetitive, derivative, and forgettable. I’m losing faith that the author of 1001 albums actually knows and understands not only good music, but truly influential albums. I’m 100 albums in so far and I am not impressed with the bulk of what crap I’ve had to listen to so far. I thought this would be a fun way to find good, new music. It’s turning out to feel more like a punishment more often than not.

This is kinda like the Strokes, with a little Jon Spencer Blues Explosion or Smashing Pumpkins. Not exactly worth listening to before you die. There’s a lot of yelling. Feels like Heavy Metal masquerading as a Christian rock.

Just uninteresting.

Fine.

This album just did not do anything for me. It wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever heard and I like this genre it was just… noise. There was really no melody or story to tell and I was honestly just waiting for it to be over. I wouldn’t want to hear this again but it doesn’t fill me with dread like other 1s so it’s a 2

Not good 2/5

I can't imagine why I'd want to listen to 54 minutes of this when the White Stripes, the Hives, DFA 1979 and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs all exist

I don't get it. It's like a mix of a bunch of post grunge stuff. Like sometimes I hear some white stripes, sometimes I hear some deaftones, some incubus or something but I'd always rather go to the bands I hear influence here rather than listen to this again. It's not bad but it's just boring to me

Not horrible, but it didn’t cover any new ground for me and I definitely could’ve lived my life without ever having heard it

They make a big noise, but i failed to detect any sense of songcraft. they're obviously big fans of Captain Beefheart, Pere Ubu, and Sonic Youth, but all those artists—as chaotic and noisy as they can be—know how to write a song. Also, the singer did nothing for me.

It's pretty generic mid-2000s alt rock. You can tell this band came around the same time as bands like The Killers or The White Stripes but they're aren't quite as exciting for me as those bands. It's mostly just noise, tbh.

Lots of rage, lots of energy, only moderately enjoyable for me.

Terrible. I knew within 5 seconds that this was going to be poor and so it proved to be. I really couldn't stand to listen any longer than about 30 seconds to any of the tracks, they were just too awful. Why exactly is this album on the list? Is it really one of the top 1001 albums ever recorded? Jesus, I hope not.

When I first heard this I felt quite positive - the sound and energy are great. The problem is there aren't any good songs. I've discussed my inability to connect to songs in a few albums recently, but here I feel pretty confident that the songs just aren't very good at all.

Usually, I love me some distorted shit, like distorted bass and guitars. It's fucking amazing in doom and sludge metal. So I would have thought that I would have liked this too. The similarity between this and doom metal is it's repetitiveness. But with doom metal, you can get away with it because the riffs are so fucking good. With this, it gets old fast. That, backed up by the subpar drumming, god awful vocals, and clear rip-off from The White Stripes (of which I am not a massive fan of anyway) makes this album not very good. It gets marks for the overall noise of it, because it's absolute filth and I like that. I also would rather listen to this than Justin Timberlake, or another Elvis Costello album, so it gets a 2.

Wrong album to listen to after a tooth extraction.

I think there were some cool ideas here, I just got sick of this album very quickly. All the noise and dissonance is very overpowering and just gives you absolutely no room to breathe at all.

2 boring

Ok, we are all in agreement that this is shitty noise. I’ve probably not got a lot to add to that conversation, so I’ll take a different tack, and let’s talk about that Wikipedia entry. What this, written by there biggest fan, who, while learning there second language: English, was also a bit distracted, at the time? Further cementing the idea that only a dickhead would care about this album.

A bit too metal esque for me but I get it

Full disclaimer: I had to look up a user-cobbled together album on Youtube just to listen to this elusive thing. It's good rock, nothing to write home about, but the sheer unavailability of it makes me deduct points. I don't know the story behind it, and I know the band had its issues with the production of this album. But my god, it is 2025!

Firstly, since this was not available on Spotify I had to listen on YouTube and having to listen to ads in-between every track really interrupted the flow. That aside, this is very early-00s rock, a bit like The Strokes or White Stripes in places but much more noise-y. Some great guitar work but not something I’d revisit. Spike Island was my preferred track. (1.5 stars)

I'm kinda surprised I'd never heard of this band before. It came out around when I was first really paying attention to music and figuring out what I liked, and it's a genre I tend to gravitate towards. All that being said, the music was fine but ultimately unmemorable.

At first, I didn't remember listening to this, but once I looked at it, I realized that I had, and it wasn't nearly as compelling as I had hoped it would be.

Det är rivigt, det är rått, det är lite coolt. Basen och gitarrerna låter överlag bra, bra "tone". Trummorna ligger kanske lite väl långt bak och saknar lite attack. Sången är lite väl enformig för min smak och nästan alltid samma "effekt". Inte riktigt min smak. Jag har lite svårt att känna av hur pass nyskapande detta var 2004. Känner någonstans 2-3 av 5 just nu.

Nice The Icarus Line t-shirt. Name 3 songs.

Not that great

I don’t hate this genre I don’t think but this was ass

4/10 - I didn’t think this album was that bad until Meatmaker. It was just so bad. The rest didn’t make me feel like I needed to turn it off.

Like worse 80s/90s noise rock mixed with worse 90s/00s alt/garage rock. This doesn’t need to be on the list. Its just bad

Didn't live this one. Pretty bland for hard rock, and got very samey. It was one of the few albums that I've had start again (on repeat) and not notice...

Drony, biting

puuuuh also ich versuechs emal. de bass isch na cool und slappt aber s isch hslt na nüt speziells oder so also vorweg: es gfalltmer bis jz glaub schomal besser als am luca, so chaotisch findis schono cool ABER das hets scho über 10 jahr vorher geh? wiso isch de scheiss druff? wiso muss ich mier youtube videos geh wo in 240p qualität sind? aber ja spit on it hani rig na en banger gfunde (wett nöd wüsse was sie mit "it" meined) hahah ok s spezielle het chli abgno? jz ischs eifach chli garage rock/grunge?AAAH ja das 9 min lied absolut unnötig also gwüssi teil hani cool gfunde, v.a. de schluss aber ??? white devil chli langsamer aber immernos so vill feedback und so hahahaa ok meatmaker isch de beat bonkers also virgin velcro und sea sick han ich nöd gfunde und es ischmer gad echt z blöd sorry bro party the baby off is h gad es insane cringes video gsi und s lied selber eifach langwilig hahaha alsooo es git safe en stern abzug für das video und dass es echt nüt z sueche het uf de liste...suscht mussi sege dass ich scho au ziitewiis e gueti ziit gha han. ohni youtube werbige etc. dezwüsche wärs natüich chli besser gsi

A lesser version of other snotty rock bands of the era. This list continues to disappoint with its loud selections from 2000. They just can't seem to find the sweet spot between loud and rock.

-this rather obscure number from 2004 didn’t exactly blow me away. sort of like Jane’s Addiction, it sounded like they were going for that hard-to-place noise rock sound, but it got kind of boring to me after a while -maybe it’s just a matter of taste. some of the songs hit hard tho -Favorites are Caviar and Spike Island

Definitely a few songs on this album that were great, but definitely also a lot of forgettable stuff

Started off pretty cool, and then faded into the background and forgettable. Probably should have been a shorter album.

Not great

Hard to believe this made a buzz when it got released. I guess labels were pushing for anything "pure" rock after the Strokes' craze. This one sounds like a tame version of The Stooges. Pass.

The Stooges for millenials.

What the hell is this album doing on this list?

The album is just kind of a lot of noise. It sounds like any other garage rock / 2000's White Stripes copy. Unfortunately, this album doesn't bring anything new or interesting to the table. It's weird that anyone would put this on a list of quintessential albums. 1.5⭐️

I imagine the NME loved this album, heralding a new dawn of alternative music. it's not that good to be honest, a very average album and undeserving of a place on this list

I've gotta say this is one of the first on the list that was a head scratcher as to how it made it here. Doesn't seem overly popular in terms of stream counts, none of the songs stood out to me and this is generally closer to a genre I enjoy. I heard different influences in or from this throughout, mostly kept thinking of Jack White, but there was another band called Dragpipe that I had found around that era and I looked up their only album and it is around the same stream count. I don't really have much else about this Icarus Line album, the cover art is about the most memorable thing I've got. It wasn't terrible or unlistenable, but I have to think that a band member may be a nephew of the 1001 albums guy. If this is a band you're into I'd recommend looking up Dragpipe. They are nothing amazing either, but I like them better than this. Favorite track "Party the Baby off" 2/5

Not a huge fan- sounded like a lot of bands from the early 2000s. Would be ok as background but not goi g out of my way to hear them again and will probably never think about them again.

Eh, I could take or leave this one

I understand what they were trying to go for but really didn’t do it for me, nothing too memorable

Groupe inconnu. Punk rock bruitiste, avec de bonnes lignes de basse et quelques morceaux intéressants : "Up Against the Wall Motherfuckers" "Caviar" "Kiss Like Lizards" Mais il ne tient pas la distance (trop de morceaux, les derniers ne sont pas très intéressants). =>2/5

Started out hating it, but it grew on me, enough to move the needle from a 1 to a 2

Never heard of this band. I see their influences, but nothing on here really connected with me. The singer is trying a little too hard to be Iggy.

Noisy but otherwise unremarkable, mediocre "rock" (?).

Bueno para escuchar de fondo y no prestarle mucha atención. Total del álbum: 63

This was what it was. 2.

Definitely a violent and dark album at times. Didn't really stand out to me, though I did give it two listens after forgetting my initial impression. Bordering on actively bad, but not completely grating to listen to.

Biggest takeaway is how long it felt, really dragging. I didn’t hate it - it was a bit of everything but nothing special. Feels like an album that made an appearance in one list because one compiler was a fan but then was removed the next year.

This is the album that some hipster doofus plays when you say that you like white stripes or queens of the stone age and theyre all like "oh yeah they learned everything from these guys that I bet you havent heard of" and so then they put this album on and youre like "yeah ok you know I have an early day tomorrow so I've gotta go" and anyway its not a BAD album but its not as good as lots of the other music that it is supposed to have influenced. 2/5

Not listened not available, other songs so so

1660 monthly listeners is shocking. This is kinda like the Strokes, with a little Jon Spencer Blues Explosion or Smashing Pumpkins. Not exactly worth listening to before you die. There’s a lot of yelling. Feels like Heavy Metal masquerading as a Christian rock.

2000s US alt-rock. Pretty heavy, edgy and dirty. Noisy and aggressive. Hardly melodic. No rhythm. Didn’t finish.

Nah

the wikipedia page had a lot of information about how buried this album was by its label and i kind of understand why... oops! sorry, not for me!

yeah, this ain't it, chief. i'm not sure how a band that makes so much noise could end up being so boring but here we are. it's like a garage band from the early aughts saw the stooges/the strokes/queens of the stone age/the white stripes and tried to copy their shtick but add more of a hardcore punk edge. in the end it just feels messy and uninspired. i even listened to this album more than once to try to "get" it but nah, not for me. at least the more straightforward punk songs were pretty good favorites: up against the wall motherfuckers, spit on it, party the baby off

#415. This blends in with everything going on around it, but does manage to be a little bit more annoying than all that. 2/5: derivative

Definitely not my thing

Hard to judge when I can only find 4 songs online

Not in the mood to listen to this, had a headache, like all the full bits of QOTSA

Really just not good.

I wanted to like this, but it just sounded like a copy cat of garage bands I really like.

grungy noise that i am parking on the not for today pile

Didn’t really like this. Average old English punk feel

boring

You’re telling me there’s nothing else we could’ve put on this list in place of this shit? I listen to some absolute, hot garbage and even I hated this.

The compilers sure do like their noise rock. I don't hear much in the way of interest, let alone essential listening.

What can you say about this album, meh

Did these guys just wake up from a coma in 2004? Twenty years too late boys, but nice try.

A noisy support band type of thing. All suicide and debauchery and teenage woes with feedback and dirge. I like that screaming was minimal and you could hear the lyrics, but being less shit is not the same as being good.

Not sure how this made the list. Obvious White Stripes and similar copycat just not nearly as good.

The cover art is gross. Its not the worst album Ive heard so far, but its not great either. I even read about it and I dont understand why its on this list.

Something just felt off about this album. There were no melodies. It wasn't very rhythmic. I can't recall a single chorus.

Every so often I listen to an album and I think to myself “ Why is this on the list, am I missing something” didn’t enjoy the music or the voice much. Very Forgettable I regret to say.

Please don't hurt me, IMHO more noise but obviously others like it...

I never heard of this band before this, and I was excited to listen to it after skimming the wikipedia page. That excitement went away about 37 seconds into the first song when the vocals come in. The vocals were either monotone with long drawn out notes or half yelling. The majority of the album sounds like one elongated whine which obviously becomes incredibly annoying. I don't like most vocals in this style and consequently I don't care for alternative rock of this era like the Strokes that use a simmilar style. This vocal style lacks the energy and excitement that a hardcore noise rock band needs. Vocals aside, the rest of the album was fine, but wasn't very memorable. Some of the guitar and bass tones were interesting but the majority of it was fuzzed out beyond recognition. The album lack any interesting melodies and rhythms. It wasn't the worst album on here by far, and while I didn't enjoy it, it was worth the listen(except it was nearly an hour long!)

This is like the output of an AI prompt: “write a meet me in the bathroom era album in the style of Alice In Chains”.

repetitive. it was the same edgy track over and over

Hmm, not really for me. Caviar was pretty cool though - some interesting riffage.

Eipä kovin puhutellut. Aika taviskaurarokkia

I don’t know why some of these albums are on this list. I didn’t need to listen to this noise.

Meh. Lots of snarl from the singer, and this is not a good thing.

Not for me

NOt sure why this one is even on the list. Very average noise. First track is decent - up against the wall. The rest of it is like pissing up against the wall.

not for me

There were a couple decent songs in the first half even though this isn't my favorite type of music. The end fell off pretty hard with White Devil and Meatmaker.

This may be our lowest Monthly Listeners band at a whopping 1,665 listeners per month. When that album started I thought we were in for a tough listen of just noise rock. It turned out to be pretty cool though with some aspects which I really liked. Still overall kind of a brutal listen at many times, but at least there were some redeeming qualities in a decent amount of some songs. Not my type of music at all but better than expected at a 2.5

Should be up my street but just didnt do it for me. Surprised it’s on the list, it isnt a patch on Drive Like Jehu / These Arms Are Snakes / insert literally any other post hardcore band here. There were some interesting moments but nothing that made me think this is anything other than a 2 star standard post hardcore record. Very meh.

A bit irritating that it isn't on spotify. I think other bands did this kind of music more successfully - not sold. Almost like proto-modern psychadelic/noise rock. Big Sleep was my favourite track. I don't think the vocalist has range.

Well, they certainly have a lot of energy. Penance Soiree is an album where it feels like there is a lot happening, but it isn't really going anywhere. The songs also seem to just never stop coming at you. I feel like I never got a moment to breathe between the frantic songs. Some of the instrumentals sounded good, but they were forgotten as soon as the extreme noise crowded everything out in my brain.

I can see why the record label didn’t bother to promote this. I have to assume (I do not care enough to actually read the book to find out) that this on the list because sometimes you need to experience the bad to fully appreciate the good.

Hm

Not terrible, not great. Like a clone or mixture of music you know already. Kinda forgot I was listening to it. Hard to have a strong opinion. I didn't hate it. But I won't miss it Oh, two stars for trying.

мрачно, неинтересно и вики смешная)

noisy, i didn’t mind the sound of this to be fair, i found there wasnt many stand outs in my opinion and it just felt a bit dragged on, not a bad listen overall though just wouldn’t listen to it again, pretty mediocre

Huh… really random. Like a sleazier White Stripes? Honestly sounded like so many other bands but did not click at all tbh…

Somewhat fun in its noisiness but mostly seemed pretty bland and unremarkable!

Sincerely, I need to find out where the hell the guy who made this list is finding these albums, the music here was completely fine, totally unremarkable - nothing about this album was influential, it didn't even get good reviews when it came out. Really the only thing remarkable about this album is that it's on this 1001 album list... basically sounded like a White Stripes cover band but a bit edgier and honestly not that good !

At the time this came out, there was probably a heavier expectation that The Icarus Line would be among the biggest rock bands of the 2000s. Instead it's another point of evidence that critics had a less than clear reading of what music fans (and the masses) wanted out of the early '00s. This album barely made a splash in the larger scheme of things, and I can think of a handful of albums that could've taken this one's place. Musically, it's nothing interesting either. A lot of groups were going for this sound and most of them did it better than The Icarus Line. All that said, Caviar was a pretty good song.

Slightly tolerable noise rock at points, but the occasional unwanted guitar/instrument shrieks became piercing to my ears. Nothing really ever stands out in noise rock in my opinion.

Whatever. Why is this on the list?

meh

Didn't particularly enjoy this but I made it to the end and was glad it was over.

I somehow feel like I should have enjoyed this more than I did but... felt very meh listening to it. I love some of the "dirty" sound of a lot of the instruments a lot tbh BUT something about the exact combo of play style and vocals made me kind of bored actually?

No jaa 2/5

I thought I'd like this more considering their obvious influences, but I found it boring and uninspired.

Penance Soiree is quite annoying because it's really like 80% generic noise without structure or purpose, forgettable in an instant, with a few decent and interesting moments scattered throughout that tease that they were capable of doing something a lot better but not smart enough to realise that. Please save me from this, it's been three weeks since I gave a 4, this is another disappointing 2.

Another non-entity of an album that left me feeling nothing beyond a mild sense of frustration. It's too long (both the album as a whole and most of the individual songs), and it's too slow through most of it. If you're going to be noisy rather than tuneful, you need more energy than the vast majority of this album brings. It's all just so disparate, and the bits that are completely noise can get in the bin. 2/5.

This started off promising but after a couple songs just sounded like the same thing over and over again.

AI-generated 'garage rock'

Didn't enjoy this, even though it seemed like it would be right up my alley. 2/5

Sounds like fooling around in the backyard while my stepdad blasts dated rock albums in the garage, complete with power tools. Noisy and forgettable. The last song was alright, but it's possible i was just glad to be done. I think it'd be a good album to listen to if you needed to stand near a lawnmower for a while.

Songwrighting doesn't appear to have been high on the list of important things when this album was made. Noise, on the other hand .... 1.5/5

A passable if forgettable noise rock album that just didn’t really stand out from a lot of similar bands (not quite the same style, but the fact that Relationship in Command by At the Drive-In isn’t on this list is pretty ridiculous)

It’s rock. I guess it’s metal. Wouldn’t say it’s very heavy. The lead singer’s voice often drones. If there was a genre called sleepy metal, several of the songs would fit that description. Didn’t hear anything special in this one.

Þó svo að ég sé rokkari í hjartanu þá er þetta ekki rokk sem mér finnst eitthvað spes. Algjört meðalmoð sem mun líklegast aldrei fara aftur á fóninn hjá mér. Ég verð fljótur að gleyma þeim. Sko, ég er meira að segja búinn að gleyma þeim núna strax. Aðeins verra en miðjuplötur.

Once again why? Why is this band and this album on this list? So many more better bands and albums than this dribble. I can’t understand half of their words and when I did wished that I had not.

They sound like a really bad Radiohead mixed with Muse like really bad not listen to them occasionally but listen to them never bad. But I could be wrong because they could be even worse than stated

just felt like garage band noise. once again-why is this on the list? how is it notable?

Meh

Not my thing these days. A bit heavy

By genres listed, this should be something I like, but I just don't really think it's all that good. Feels more like southern/blues hard rock than it does noise/garage. Will I listen to again: 5%

46/100 Mildly decent but extremely forgettable

Another album in this project where I'm just finding myself wondering.....why??

WAT DOET DIT IN DE LIJST?!? Niet relevant, toen niet, en nu niet. Dit genre staat verder nauwelijks in de lijst, maar ik denk dat er betere voorbeelden te bedenken zijn. Niet onluisterbaar, maar ook niet goed.

Did not enjoy this one; a wasted slot on this list.

Penance Soiree presents a musically solid offering, showcasing an adeptness in crafting intense and raw rock compositions. The album exudes a gritty energy that is undeniably captivating, drawing you into its chaotic sonic landscape. However, while the music is fine, it fails to leave a lasting impression compared to bands like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and At the Drive In, who were pioneering similar sonic territories during the same era. The album's production quality is commendable, capturing the band's raw intensity with clarity and precision. Vocalist Joe Cardamone delivers a passionate performance, infusing each track with a sense of urgency and conviction. The guitar work is particularly noteworthy, with dynamic riffs and blistering solos adding depth to the band's sound. Despite its musical prowess, Penance Soiree lacks the innovation and distinctiveness that set apart other contemporaneous acts in the post-punk and garage rock scene. NUMBER OF BANGERS - 0 STAND OUT TRACK - None

Du garage rock qui ne se démarque aucunement. J'avais l'impression d'écouter une copie de White Stripes en plus noisy. Tout le long j'avais beaucoup de misère à rester intéressé, souvent j'oubliais qu'il jouait. 4/10

It’s not TERRIBLE but there is no place in my world where I would ever pick this. Musically it’s derivative and repetitive. They write and play but do they know why?

Noisy

Weirdly varied but mostly very noisy

Very mediocre noise

Hubo muchos y mucho mejores discos en 2004: Nick Cave- Abattoir Blues / The Lyre of Orpheus, Arcade Fire- Funeral, Wilco – A Ghost Is Born, Bart Davenport – Game Preserve, Interpol – Antics, Tom Waits – Real gone, Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand, Modest Mouse – Good news for people who love bad news, Brian Wilson – Smile, Lambchop – Aw c’mon / No you c’mon, The Dears – No cities left, The Divine Comedy – Absent friends, The Delgados – Universal audio, MORRISSEY - You are the quarry, Kasabian-Kasabian, Sonic Youth- Sonic Nurse, THE ORGAN - THE ORGAN, ADAN GREEN - FRIENDS OF MINE, Ye (Kanye West)- The College dropout, Keane- Hopes and feras, TV on the radio- Desperate, Youth, Blood, Green Day - American Idiot, PINBACK-Summer in Abaddon... Este de The Icarus Line tuvo muy buena acogida, aunque para mi gusto inferior a los citados. Incluye una buena ración de Post-hardcore, garaje, punk, noise, rock a secas... caminos transitados por otros como White Stripes , Nine Inch Nails o Mars Volta por citar algunos coetáneos suyos.

This album wasn't great, but at least it was long. Released in 2004, this album clearly is trying to be part of the early 2000s garage rock revival, trying to be experimental, yet is firmly rooted in 90s alternative rock and post-hardcore. This doesn't necessarily mean that the record shouldn't work, but there's certainly something not right here. I find when albums are trying to fit too many genres in their music, they end up doing nothing well. That's the case here. The garage rock is watered down and doesn't sound organic or spontaneous, the noise elements seem forced, and the alt rock is bland.

Imagine if the Mars Volta were boring, then you'd get this as a result.

I’m a fan of noise rock, but this just didn’t click for me. There were parts that I enjoyed punctuated by atonal noise that went nowhere. Surprised this is on the list when there are many others who have done it better. Liked about half the songs.

Not for me. Might be worth a relisten though

High-school me probably would've loved this the when it came out.

Meh just sounds like a staler version of the early 2000s rock scene Rating: 2.0

There were like 2 good songs. The rest of this album was mid & cap. it’s like a 1.5 so i rounded up

Post hardcore that despite a serviceable rhythm section seems to just sound like drivel. Too many grunge and noise rock bands it tries to sound like but doesn't come up with a memorable sound - it just doesn't make up it's mind. Many songs seem to start out fine but guitar and vocals just come off as self absorbed garbage.

I cannot understand the wave of disgust this record causes. It simply is somewhat meeh. Not hard to listen to at all. What is all the fuzz about the noise? There is not too much of it, instead rather traditional songwriting with a tendency to overextend the content, both lyrically and musically. There are moments to be cherished, moments better discarded, and a lot of overblown nothingness inbetween. It feels dated, most of all. I did not know it before and will surely quickly forget. Nothing to have listened to before dying. 2.5, but down rating due to its insignificance.

Certainly they had a lot of ideas but tried to do too much, and that leaves this album lacking Identity and cohesion. Even within some tracks it feels like throwing mud at the wall, and seeing what sticks. Over a 53 minute album that just makes it seem like everything blurs together into a mush. I don't completely hate it but would find it hard to pick a highlight

I honestly found myself spacing out for this one. The album lost steam as I picked up on the band’s style. I can see how influential it would have been but it’s ultimately not for me.

I had to skip some songs. They were too annoying.

Nothing impressive

Didn't work for me

Maybe 15 years ago I would have loved this album. It’s not for me now.

Noisy and boring.

nah. not it. a little generic

Noisy but not in a good way

They were neither very popular nor innovators nor trendsetters, so I don't understand why this album is on the list. Not the worst ever, but 3 songs too long for me. Bands like the Birthday Party, the Jesus Lizard (not on the list) and Girls vs Boys did it better years and years before. Favorite song: spit on it.

Very similar to The White Stripes, but with more of a noise rock feel. Wasn’t feeling this one too much, and I usually like early-2000s garage rock revival. It was a bit boring and a little grating.

The distorted guitars and droning vocals are just so overdone. They still had a decent sound, but ruined their own momentum with unnecessary abrasive noise sections

What if the White Stripes filled out their sound a bit more? What if the garage rock revival broke off from conventional garage rock songwriting? What if the world was made of pudding. By far the noisiest 21st century album on this list, embracing full feedback and walls of sound that feels like a trademark of the loudness war (thanks, Rubin!) I feel the garage rock revival style doesn't quite gel well enough with the noise rock that aims to subvert a lot of typical trappings of popular rock. It goes in some interesting directions, such as the big switch-up in Getting Bright at Night and the industrial influence on Meatmaker. That said, Penance Soiree often feels like it drags on for too long with disjointed ideas, making for an overall messy album. Wikipedia claims that this is "one of 2004's most critically acclaimed releases", though the quality of the article leads me to believe that it's legacy has since been forgotten. The truth is that it does some interesting things, but not enough to warrant retrospective praise.

This one was okay, but didn't resonate with me much. Kind of an odd pick for must listen records.

This was something else, maybe in the right headspace it’d be palatable but I was not feeling it

It was okay - don't get why I needed to listen to this

Not for me 2*

A mishmash of different rock and roll tropes including indie, noise and just straight up metal. Quite interesting but altogether amounts to little of meaning or enjoyment.

A bit too hard rock for me.

Bass riff on the opening track was cool. Pretty middle of the road after that

2.5

Meh. Not sure why this one is a must listen before oyu die album.

It kinda drags on... Cool sound, and I almost like it, but probably won't revisit.

Kind of like the White Stripes. But I'll take the white stripes.

Hmm...I like a lot of things about it, but it lacks any pop predictably. So maybe that's good for my brain. But it's hard to listen to for too long. Mostly just sounds like chaos...but in a style that I like?

Very noisy

Never heard of this band before. This whole album went by without grabbing my attention. Just not my cup of tea.

Not available on Spotify

Very grungy and not that enjoyable. But I didn't hate it so much I couldn't finish it

The first song is great but that's about it.

I guess I'm just not punk rock enough for this album. I like my music to be hooky and catchy, and while there are a few songs on here that come close (and they kind of sound like pale imitations of bands like the Rolling Stones, Audioslave, and Smashing Pumpkins), it's a lot of noise and stream of consciousness about being drugged up and depressed. "Spit On It" attempts to take on the capitalistic corruption of art, but it just sounds like bad high school poetry. There's also a vein of misogyny that runs through the album and peaks on the last 3 songs, which are all pretty gross. There are a couple ok moments. "Getting Bright at Night" has an interesting change up in the last 3 minutes of the 9-minute song and "Big Sleep" contains some interesting imagery in yet another song about drugs and depression. Overall, the album is repetitive and, to me at least, feels derivative. There's nothing original about sex, drugs, and rock n roll, and they don't seem to offer anything new. This album is kind of a one-trick pony.

It's fine, but there's better noise rock out there.

Boring

Lucky for this album that it came along the day after listening to The Cramps, it made this album immeasurably better. Mind you, a bunch of saucepans being dropped down the stairs would sound better than The Cramps. Anyway, The Icarus Line is not my thing at all, but I listened to the whole album so 2 stars for that.

Beaucoup de bruit pour pas grand chose. Si tous les instruments jouaient le même morceau ce serait plus sympa. Certaines difficilement audibles ("Spit on it", l'affreuse "Meatmaker"), certaines juste convenables ("On the lash). Très bof.

I really do wonder why this is on the list. It's not bad as such, but there's nothing here that I would classify as particularly original or standing out.

есть нойз, есть гараж. чуваки не смогли выбрать

I was unable to listen to Virgin Velcro and Seasick because they're not available in my country on Spotify or Youtube, but I trust the reviews that they're more of the same. I'd hate to leave the project unfinished. Anyway, a lot of distortion. I think there were some good parts, but most didn't mesh well for me. Most was not catchy or interesting.

This album didn’t click with me, didn’t enjoy the singing or the music. A song would get a rhythm that was pleasant to hear and overlay it with so much noise to wrap it up and overlay it. 2/5

This felt like a lot of noise. Couldn’t hear or understand the singer. It was weird. Not my jam.

ei saatavilla

Not totally sure why this album is on here. There are other bands that sound almost identical and made a much larger impact

4/10. Loud

Bordering on being utter shit. Only thing saving it is that I have heard Napalm Death, All Hope Is Lost, and Reign of Blood before this. All Hope Is Lost was buoyed by the insane drums. Icarus Line can't say the same here. So while not nearly as atrocious as All Hope is Lost I can't rate it higher or lower than that. 2 out of 5.

Slightly less annoying noise metal than the one from a week ago. I did like Getting Bright at Night

God, this was boring.

A wall of noise. Literal screaming involved for too long at one point.

damn this is a load of shit

What does this album bring to the cultural conversation? I'm struggling to understand why I needed to hear this album before I died.

Basically every one of these songs starts great and ruins itself over the course of 2-5 minutes

YIKES: this wasn't at all good. Why this album is quite on the list I do not know. Wasn't the pleasant listening journey it should've been. The guitar was loud and jarring and paired with the occasional random outbursts of gain just making it loud and horrible to listen, this wasn't at all good. Also I feel an album from 2014, the era of streaming, with each song under 100k streams on Spotify and under 2000 monthly listeners, this record isn't nearly as influential and important as some of the albums not on this list. Also if an album has this book at the top of the wikipedia page it's a massive red flag.

Not my type

This is what a mix between early naughts retro-rock, Stooges Funhouse-era proto-punk, and nineties post-hardcore should probably sound like. Not that a lot of people really aked for such a mix to exist. Not inherently bad, with quite a few intense moments performance-wise, yet a bit lackluster in terms of hooks and truly memorable moments. Not everyone can have the scenic presence and/or the catchy vocal lines of a Iggy Pop or a Cedric Bixler-Zavala. 2/5 for the purposes of this list of essential albums, translating to a 7/10 grade for more general purposes (5 + 2). Number of albums left to review: 398 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 271 Albums from the list might* include in mine later on: 144 Albums from the list I won't include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 189 (including this one)

I'm not sure why this made the list. Fuzzy, muddy, noisy, these are not inherently bad qualities, but monotonous generally is. The songs really run together, and nothing seems memorable here. "Getting Bright At Night" was a good track for a while, but it's 9 minutes long and about 2/3 of the way through starts sounding like everything else on the album.