Battles are a three-piece band formed in New York in 2002. The three band members (and ex-band member - multi-instrumentalist, Tyondai Braxton) were all previously all in hardcore/math-rock bands from different cities - John Stanier in Florida-based 'Helmet', Dave Konopka with 'Lynx' who hailed from Boston and Ian Williams in Chicago's 'Storm and Stress'. All 4 members had felt restricted by the music they were currently playing and wanted to move away from being just a rock band.
They released 2 EPs over the next couple of years and although at that stage they were clearly still a punk/hardcore band they started experimenting with other genres notably shoe-gazer post rock, sometimes dub that leant towards reggae and electronic music also. They released 'Mirrored', their first full album in 2007 and won a lot of new fans with an album that revealed them to be expert musicians and talented innovators. 'Mirrored' maintained the hard rock edge but it also incorporated fresh sounding electronic music also. The stand out song from that album was 'Atlas' that has distorted voices over a pounding drum beat that would be at home with one of the drum heavy modern romantic bands of the early 80s. The album also provided soundtracks to adverts and TV programmes, proof that their music was now in the mainstream.
Braxton left in 2010, citing the long touring schedule as the main reason leaving the 3 remaining members to reassess the music that they were working on for an upcoming album. 'Glass Drop' was completed in 4 months at the same studio where they had recorded the first album where they locked themselves away in order to fulfil record company commitments on time. The new album is a lot easier to get into than the first album with the whole album revolving around Konopka's drumming but there is also a lot more techno in this album too. There is also the surprise of some guest singers including Gary Numan which surprise me. He's more known for a minimalist approach to music whereas Battles are almost the opposite. They've also a female singer, Kazu Makino involved which is unusual for a band rooted in hardcore. They have stated in interviews that they try desperately hard not to be pigeon-holed and this is why they like to move outside their comfort zones.
This track is their first single release from their new album. It's called Ice Cream and features Matias Aguayo.
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