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 In Seattle, Washington, the word "grunge" quickly became a "no-no" following the death of Kurt Cobain.  Since the demise of Soundgarden and the recent passing of Alice in Chains singer Layne Staley, wall-of-sound distorted groove rock with odd time signatures has all but disappeared on the now nice guy emo-rock Northwest scene.  On the other hand, given the Northwest's fundamentally indie, DIY approach to making music, it is not surprising that a band like IC3 would still be able to thrive, keeping the banner high for the once popular sound. With so much 90's and even 70's flavor this Seattle trio could almost be considered retro. 

Forever finds singer Vic Lipsey's gravelly voice ripping into mixed tempo tracks like "Seven" with classic rock vengeance.  Follow-up tracks like "Winning" and "Empty" truly pay homage to some of those bands that came out of Seattle's SubPop Records, complete with down deep wah-wah grooves and impressive distorted groove riffs.  Other tracks like, "Revolution" and "someone" are high points capturing a 70's vibe reminiscent of bands like Bachman-Turner Overdrive.  Mellowing it a step further, the trio mixes a little jazzy feel into the acoustic "Dreaming" for the disc's best track. 
 

Ultimately, the great thing about IC3 is that this trio of 30 or 40-somethings is making music that those who came up enjoying both 70's classic rock and early 90's modern rock can still enjoy.  In fact they probably don't find any dissonance because they understand how 70's classic and punk rock made up much of what was so popular coming out of Seattle.  "Forever" is a great reminder that bands who don't want to serve up kiddie fluff rock don't have to in order to successfully make music.

Anthony Barr-Jeffrey  9/14/2002