The Icicles

A sweet, breezy indie pop ensemble whose jangly, bubblegummy tunes put them in league with acts like the Softies, Let's Go Sailing, and the Concretes, the Icicles formed in Grand Rapids, MI, in 2000. They were a decidedly "crafty" group right from the get-go; they donned homemade matching outfits at their live shows, and sold handmade hats and mittens in order to get enough money to record their debut EP. The group was initially comprised of Gretchen DeVault, Korrie Sue, and Daniel Lambert, and soon expanded to include DeVault's friend Joleen Rumsey, who had helped to make the band's costumes from the very beginning. Their debut EP, Pure Sugar, was released on Drive In in the spring of 2002, and the disc's college radio success led to a small Midwestern tour. The band's lineup shifted in the following year; bassist Lambert left the group and was replaced by Emily Kreuger, and drummer Korrie Sue went on to be replaced by Greg Krupp. The Icicles traveled to Brooklyn later that year to record their debut full-length; mastered by the Essex Green's Britt Myers and recorded at the Ladybug Transistor frontman Gary Olson's home studio, A Hundred Patterns was released in 2005. It was at this point that the band began to garner some mainstream commercial success; A Hundred Patterns' lead single, "Sugar Sweet," was picked up by Motorola for an ad campaign in the fall of 2006. The band took on a new member, guitarist Rebecca Rodriguez, for the recording of its second full-length album. Arrivals & Departures hit stores in the spring of 2007; its lead single, "La Ti Da," went on to be picked up by Target for a television commercial soon after the album was released. ~ Margaret Reges, All Music Guide