A 'Line' you'll want to cross

L.A.'s heating up again. Bad attitudes are notorious -- a la www.buddyhead.com -- and the guitars are getting just as abrasive. It's not quite the late 1980s with Mötley Crüe and Quiet Riot, but it's just as intense. The Icarus Line, along with other heavy acts like the Bronx, are taking L.A. to its boiling point.\n "Penance Soiree," the band's second full-length album, helps turn up the heat as Icarus Line creeps to another level. Adding bassist Don Devore of Ink & Dagger fame has added an extra punch to the band's rhythm section apparent from the get-go, as he drives the album's opener, "Up Against the Wall," through a trip of aggressive crunch and a stern tongue-lashing from lead vocalist Joe Cardamone.\nLyrics of heartbreak, drugs and rock 'n' roll intertwine with a soundtrack that takes you through various emotions -- kicking it off in chaos with "Spit On It," moving along with the straight-forward rock of "Spike Island" and coming down with "White Devil." The drum-machine-based "Meatmaker" is the record's bad dream, waking up to the mellow "Party the Baby Off," which takes you right back to the beginning for another trip.\nThis is a rejuvenating slap in the face that indie rockers need, and what a refreshing one it is.