Ikara Colt

Advantages An album packed full of attitude and youthful vigour
Disadvantages Not exactly mainstream

...‘Chat and Business’ is the debut album from London based band Ikara Colt. They formed in 2001 after meeting at Art college and set about writing their debut album which was subsequently released a year later on the Fantastic Plastic label. The album is a mixture of raw, stripped down rhythms and angry understated vocals. Add in some scything guitars and politically led lyrics and what you have is the archetypal Art-house punk record. The production on the album is kept to a minimum and the sound has a quaint, almost tinny edge to it. I would guess that Ikara Colt are the sort of thing that happens when you give instruments to four art students who couldn’t give a f**k about selling records. To say this is the most commercially unviable record I’ve ever heard is an understatement. For most of the album it’s hard to even discern any... Read review

Advantages Edgy, spiky, vitriolic rock
Disadvantages A little too similar to their debut

...Modern Apprentice is the second album from the group of art school punks hailing from London, England known as Ikara Colt. They burst onto the scene in 2002 with their debut album Chat and Business, a vitriolic slice of spite that hacked and clawed at the mainstream music scene. With such an impressive debut it was anyone’s guess where Ikara Colt would head next, on one side they were teetering on the brink of greatness and on the other self implosion. The band was racked with inner turmoil, in the two years separating their two albums arguments and feuds rage between several band members, which eventually led to an acrimonious departure for Jon Ball, Colt’s bass player. Two years later and with a new female bass player in tow they have released a record equally as aggressive and nonchalant as their debut. In many ways Modern... Read review

Advantages Infectious art punk
Disadvantages Some tracks seem a little too raw

...This is the second album from Ikara Colt, the London-based artrock/post-punk band. Released shortly before they split, they certainly sound like more accomplished songwriters and instrumentalists than on the debut, though that's not necessarily a good thing. A lot of the charm of the debut album 'Chat and Business' came from the fact the songs were raw and the playing wasn't always the cleanest. The tracks on this album which have that same raw feel to them aren't quite the same, sounding more like it's down to the songs not being quite finished rather than down to the band being new to the scene. That said, the majority of the album sounds more polished, and tracks such as 'Motorway' and 'Waste Ground' show an electronic side to the band which hadn't been seen before (except, to some extent, in 'May B 1 Day #2' from the now... Read review