Shane’s Music Challenge: ICEHOUSE – 2011 – White Heat

Shane | 5 February 2014 | Reply

ICEHOUSE – 2011 – White Heat
By Shane Pinnegar – My Music Challenge Blog

I interviewed Iva Davies recently, so what better time to listen through their 2001 career retrospective double album White Heat.

I saw them – I say ‘them’ but it’s Davies’ show and has been for many years – in 2012 and they were great, and I am certain I saw them back in the day, but can’t recall a specific occasion.

I guess you could go out on a limb and say Davies was a kind of Aussie Bowie – he started off playing arty rock in pubs (though was never ‘pub rock’ by a long shot), but very quickly (the iconic Great Southern Land was the lead single off their second album [the first Icehouse album, that is, after they changed their name for legal reasons from Flowers after touring their debut, named, uncoincidentally, Icehouse]) created some incredible synth-led pop rock that redefined part of the musical landscape.

A classically trained multi-instrumentalist, Davies made some incredible music. We Can Get Together. Love In Motion. Hey little Girl. Street Café. Crazy. Electric Blue. Man Of Colours. These barely scratch the surface.

I’m pretty sure they had some success overseas as well, so there’s no excuse not to know who they are, but if you don’t – seek them out, soak up the pop perfection of songs like Crazy, and if you’re local, don’t miss them on Rotto Island in a month!

Best bits: The iconic ‘alternate national anthem’ Great Southern Land, the perfect pop of Crazy and the art rock of Love In Motion, presented here in original form and as a duet with Chrissie Amphlett of The Divinyls.

9/10