Weeping Icon – Weeping Icon

Take out your Hazmat suits, as the self-titled debut from Brooklyn’s Weeping Icon is filled to the brim with vile acid that spits on social media culture, unfair power dynamics and a slew of other issues in our socio political climate. The band combines thrash-y punk, noise rock and a pinch of shoegaze, with the sharpness and wit delivered like a stiletto stabbed through your eye. The lo-fi rawness and straightforward lyrics in this album makes it eerily relatable. The music takes a no-holds-barred approach and smacks its message straight to your face  but it isn’t devoid of any humor. Weeping Icon is in on the joke and uses irony and the occasional cheekiness to add a little bit of fun.

There are seven songs in this album, each preceded by short instrumentals which prime the listener while also showcasing the band’s versatility. “Ankles” crashes through the gates with pounding drums and a thick wall of riffs. The noise gives off a feeling vertigo, like walking on ice with unstable footing. “Be Anti” is so tongue-in-cheek that it could bruise the inside of your mouth. A critique of the outrage culture in social media, how everyone seems to be an expert in each subject, and is pissed when someone gives a contrary opinion. This is one of the central themes in the album, and it’s approached in a snarky, roll-your-eyes kind of a way.

The band shifts into post-punk in “Ripe for Consumption”. Vocalist Sara Fantry loses her sarcasm and adapts a bleak and sobering tone, throwing out her ire against commercialism with a sweltering guitar riff that drones and cackles in the background. “Power Trip” adapts a similar tone, with guitar and drums that pound in constant rhythm, like a worker toiling in an industrial complex. Here the rules are rigid, and individuality doesn’t matter. There’s a pecking order that should be followed, and yet corporate goons get away with everything. 

The sassiness emerges again in “Like Envy”, the song depicts a content creator and viewer relationship. How we all seem like peddlers participating in a culture of vanity. All predicated on making others envious of what we have. Fantry adapts a deadpan tone as she chants: “Do you like my content?” amidst an ominous sludge of guitars. 

Weeping Icon offers an introspective look at the ails of our current society and shows it like the mess that truly it is. A tried and true tradition of punk that’s relevant to our new age. Besides, who doesn’t want to dance in a mosh pit while raging against the establishment?

Share: Facebook Twitter Linkedin
Leave a Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *