ICE's 1970 Psych-Rock Album To Be Released After 50 Years

RidingEasy Records, the same folks who collect and release the music in the Brown Acid series, are delivering the first ever release of the only album by Indiana psych-rock band ICE, called Ice Age, which was recorded in 1970, but never released.

The single "Satisfy" has been released to give fans an idea of the soundscape at work, and two other singles have been previously released, including "Gypsy" and "Run to Me".

The band was originally formed in the late 1960's on the west side of Indianapolis, Indiana, and the group consisted of vocalist/keyboardist Barry Crawford, lead vocalist/ bassist Jim Lee, drummer Mike Saligoe, lead guitarist John Schaffer and rhythm guitarist/vocalist Richard Strange.

In 1970, the band recorded 10 original songs at 8-Track Studios in Chicago, only to break up shortly thereafter. Two of the tracks were eventually released as a 45 in 1972, but under a different band name, Zukus.

The A-side of that single was featured on Brown Acid: The Ninth Trip, which led RidingEasy Records to discover when licensing the track that "an entire album had been languishing in obscurity all of this time".

The 2-inch master tapes had been "shelved and forgotten" until recently when The Ice Age tracks were converted to digital and remixed, preserving the sounds of the original vocals & instruments.

RidingEasy Records explains further:

"The Ice Age is an exceptional archive of hard edged rock with serious pop hooks akin to something like Grand Funk Railroad meets The Guess Who and The Move. It rocks hard, but is also interlaced with glorious melodic hooks. Had fate been less fickle, this album would've long been a classic rock radio staple.
 
Album opener "Gypsy" is a chiming Byrds-like rocker, with glistening 12-string guitar, organ and somewhat over-zealous vibra-slap. "Satisfy" and "3 O'Clock In The Morning" nicely pair up as the most pop friendly tunes, but with very clever melodies and structures sounding ahead of their time, the latter with an extended entrancing and droning refrain led by shimmering organ run through a Leslie speaker. "Running High" and "Catch You" were the two tracks released in '72 under a different band name, which received considerable local radio airplay. And, for good reason: Their nice balance of wayward psychedelic pop and troglodyte thunder is exactly what makes The Ice Age so captivating. Album closer "Song of The East" shares the growling glissando and orchestral style that made Vanilla Fudge and The Moody Blues household names.
 
The Ice Age is truly an incredible and unprecedented find, particularly when we'd all thought the glorious history of rock'n'roll had long ago been written and sealed as complete."