14 Iced Bears - Let the Breeze Open Our Hearts (CD)

All Music Guide

If Echo and the Bunnymen were neopsychedelia's Doors and the Teardrop Explodes its Pink Floyd, then 14 Iced Bears were the movement's Thirteenth Floor Elevatorsmaddeningly erratic but occasionally brilliant, with a reach that far exceeded their grasp. Torn between their primitive C86 origins, their cosmic ambitions and a UK indie scene mad for Madchester, 14 Iced Bears never found a comfort zonecompiling 20 tracks including their eponymous 1988 debut LP and a pair of subsequent singles, Let the Breeze Open Our Hearts spans only about a year of activity but sounds like the work of several different bands, none of whom defined a distinct identity. To be fair, without superior early efforts like "Balloon Song" and their lone Sarah Records release "Come Get Me," Let the Breeze Open Our Hearts doesn't really capture 14 Iced Bears in the best lightthere is some worthwhile material here, like the bside "Beautiful Child," but Slumberland's In the Beginning compilation does a far more effective... job of documenting the group's strengths. - Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide Read more Less