Review: Iceage prove their worth on sophomore CD

Iceage, "You're Nothing" (Matador Records)

The second album from the four Danish lads known as Iceage is an even more caustic slab of brooding punk than their blindsiding first record. "You're Nothing" rails against excess, manufactured pressure and the general decimation of morality.

Alternating between urgent calls to act ("Coalition") and a bruised motivation ("Wounded Hearts"), these songs devolve and instruments claw for space, fueling the unbridled frenzy. On the raging "Burning Hand," Elias Bender Ronnenfelt loses his throat asking pointed rhetorical questions with such aplomb. It's like he's in on a good joke. The chorus of "Rodfaestet" — sung in their native tongue — is as close as they get to sing-along territory.

A few moments jump out: The immediate pummel of the percussion that opens "It Might Hit First," the reflective intervals ("In Haze") reminiscent of debut standout "Remember" and the unhinged repeating of the title that closes out the album.