April/May 2011: The Icons – Appointment With Destiny!

OK, Aficionados of the Rock –

We finally have got around to releasing Appointment with Destiny! and I certainly hope you enjoy it. It has a mix of some old Icons favs that we never recorded back when and new stuff. For me it was worth making this record just to have a copy of Steve’s You’re the One, which I have meant to record for the last 25 years. Done! I think this is a bit more varied than Masters of Disaster, but I let you and the critics decide that.

Special thanks Jeff Kelly, Amy Denio, Glenn Slater, Madeleine Sosin, Allyson Hoepfner and Kat Dyer for contributing to the tracks. The official bio follows.

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April 2011

The Official Story!

Appointment With Destiny! is The Icons’ Magnum Opus.

Opus schmopus, The Icons new CD is their Pet Sounds, their White Album, their Faustian bargain; a crossroads of sorts for four bad players running from poverty, oppression, the devil and the army.

It is their second record in twenty five years. They don’t necessarily like to rush things.

Recorded and mixed over the course of a year at Icons Underground World Headquarters in Seattle, Destiny! is built around the songwriting prolificacy and prowess of singing guitarists Tom Dyer and Steve Trettevik simultaneously featuring Hades’ own rhythm section, James Gascoigne on drums and Rick Yust on bass and vocals. Destiny also includes Rick’s compositional debut on the dreamlike nightmare that is Made by Parker Posey. Add in Green Pajama Jeff Kelly’s “Dancin’ in the Jailhouse“ and you’ve got sixteen brutally fresh, intoxicating songs.

Appointment With Destiny! delivers with a delicate punch the pain and joy of what it is to be human today … well, perhaps not. But it is packed with tuneful thrashing, songs of Love and Unrequited Love, songs of Life and songs of Death, songs of Space Aliens and songs of the Medical Profession—the true Heart and Soul of four misguided post-modern troubadours. Have mercy.

How did we come to this spectacular and fateful day? The story goes like this.

The Icons fired up in 1983. Tom finished his Seattle art/punk band The Adults. In his four-track studio, he and Steve started recording various dopey studio projects like Stevie Nations & the United States, the Rude Dudes, Sherry & the Mudmen, and Group Sex. Classy stuff. It was time for a real band. Tom said to Steve, “get the name right – the rest is easy.” The Icons was the name and The Icons was the deal. Drummer Tim Nelson (R.I.P.) was next lured into the pack. Truth – Rick was seduced to join the band by perfectly grilled meat. Who could resist? And there were four Icons. It was good.

The Icons rehearsed like maniacs and recorded, a lot. Tape was running, a lot. The band was soon playing for the people semi-regularly around Seattle. These were heady times, with all the playing for the people, and it was good, damn good. But there was soon trouble in paradise. Tim found himself conflicted between his Iconship and some higher calling. Tim was out. Way out. The Icons invited the Queen Annes’ James Gascoigne to pound skins. James and the band agreed to terms and there was food and merry drink, and more drink, for all.

Fame and fortune escaped this fantastic foursome. However, neither fame nor fortune were the goal, the intention. Playing the music for the people was the calling. And the noise, it was always the noise. By 1986, the Mission was accomplished. The Masters of Disaster came forth on cassette The Icons were no more. And it was good.

Silence until 2003 – then, suddenly, a 4 minute film The Icons – Proof That They Rocked is shot in 48 hours by Jen Peel and crew for the Seattle International Film Festival Fly Film. Tom flies in from Boston and by total dumb luck sees it on TV from a hotel room at the Hilton. It can still be seen on Channel 9 PBS in Seattle from time to time. The film confirms their growing obscurity.

Next stop – the summer of 2009. The Icons were called forth to do a Green Monkey Records reunion show. The Icons rocked the house. It was fun. It was loud. It was just too good. What was left to do?

Bake the multi-track tapes from the Masters of Disaster. Remix it. Add some extras. Put it out. Done. Make their second record? It was time.

2010, they recorded drums and stuff with Conrad Uno. They got Amy Denio to play squeezebox and saxophone. They got her associate from AMA Madeleine Sosin to play violin. They got Jeff Kelly of the Green Pajamas to play organ on songs. They got Glenn Slater of The Walkabouts to play organ on songs. Who doesn’t like organ? Mix, mix, mix. Done.

Destiny is the fruit of their new calling. But that is just the beginning. The Icons will not be denied twice. This time The Icons are bigger and better and prettier than ever. This time the calling is fame, glory and riches beyond all imagination.

And that dear reader, concludes our tale. We all have a part to play in this story. Answer the call and do your part. Be part of real history. Sell your soul if you must.

Your Appointment with Destiny awaits!

Track list & writer credit (GM1008)

1. You’re The One (Trettevik)
2. X-Ray (Dyer)
3. Fool Me Once (Trettevik)
4. Dancin’ In The Jailhouse (Jeff Kelly)
5. The Glory Of Love (Dyer)
6. You Never Have Time (Trettevik)
7. Green Means Go! (Dyer)
8. Made By Parker Posey (Yust)
9. Warm And Tender (Dyer)
10. You Need Love (Trettevik)
11. Twenty-Five (Dyer)
12. Let It Go (Trettevik)
13. Falling (Trettevik)
14. St. Charles (Dyer)
15. No Hammer (Recession Blues) (Dyer)
16. Carousel (Trettevik)

all songs © 2011 Half the World Publishing
Photos by Melville Petrosky – thanks!