Song Premiere: Icewater, “Wisecrack”

The Artist: Icewater, an indie rock outfit from New York.
The Song: “Wisecrack,” off the band’s recently released self-titled EP.
Songwriter Says: “With our EP, we wanted to experience the gratification of recording something and then immediately putting it out. We recorded our full length LP Cardinal in April, and have since been carrying it around like a secret stone, looking for the best way to reveal it. Needless to say, we all felt a bit of restlessness this past summer, which inevitably led to the EP we’re putting out. We approached our good friend Albert Di Fiore who runs the Rumpus Room with his brother Phil. Albert mixed our first LP Collector’s Edition and we always wanted to do a full recording with him. He proposed that we track everything onto 2″ tape – which we were thrilled about, so we went in at the end of July and did the live tracking, overdubs, and mix over a few days. In regards to the writing, we wanted to create an EP that showed range; a groovier track that you could dance/walk to (Good Face), next to Wisecrack, which is more like a short sprint. The two songs deal with longing for the physical presence of someone and the process of finding that presence through memory and projection. It was a bit strange recording this EP, because we happened to finish on the one year anniversary of our close friend and founding member Grant Martin’s passing. Grant’s presence has always been felt at the Rumpus Room; it’s where we spent countless hours mixing his guitar and vocals for our first record. It was a safe place for us, but still strange. We are so excited to put this EP out, and it makes us even more excited to get Cardinal out there. Lots of good stuff ahead.”