Fresh from drumming with Austin, TX's
Ed Hall,
Kevin Whitley assembled
Cherubs and emerged with this consistent, rhythm-driven debut. He certainly plays guitar like a drummer, subordinating melody to rhythm. His chord progressions and changes center around the drums with very little frill. However, unlike
Helmet, or
Unsane, who similarly inhabited the noise rock idiom at the time,
Cherubs did actually make much greater strides melodically, even if those strains are still only developmental on
Icing. Though not nearly as powerful or well stitched as
Heroin Man,
Cherubs' magnum opus,
Icing is a worthy debut, even if it tires in spots, either from sluggishness or from McMahon's grating vocals. Fortunately,
Whitley assumed most of the vocal duties on the band's sophomore effort.