BUZZ BANDS

Getting down to business

The destructive streak that made the Icarus Line as much a sideshow as musical fascination may have played itself out, if the L.A. quintet’s third album, “Black Lives at the Golden Coast,” is any indication.

“You can just put it on with other records and it stands up,” vocalist Joe Cardamone says. “Some things about our first two records might have been too crazy, too abusive. But this is getting into territory I’m more comfortable with.”

Musically, it’s still the gnarled root of the Rolling Stones’ tree, or one of the Stooges’ severed limbs -- it’s noisy and snarling yet seemingly approached with amped-up wonder rather than punk antagonism. Has the band grown up? Fans can decide, Cardamone says: “If you listen to all three of our records and you consider it a progression, then I’d say yes. I know some people who think we’ve grown down. Some people think we should break bottles over our heads.”

Given the band’s history of stage antics and general embrace of chaos, that would not surprise. “We haven’t mellowed.... There’s still the stress of the hustle that you gotta throw into your music,” Cardamone says.

“Black Lives,” the band’s first output in three years, came out this week in the U.S. on Dim Mak -- in the early days, the Icarus Line played shows at label owner Steve Aoki’s apartment in Goleta. On Friday, Cardamone and band mates Alvin DeGuzman, Jeff Watson, Jason Decorse and James Striff celebrate with a record-release show at El Cid.

Fast forward

* New York orchestral pop outfit the Sharp Things play the Mint tonight behind an impressive new album, “A Moveable Feast.” ... The Hereafter, the acoustic ensemble fronted by John Elliott, celebrates the release of “Before We Fall” on Saturday at the Hotel Cafe.... Also new: “Calling the World,” from Rooney, which plays the Roxy on Monday.... Philadelphia trio Eastern Conference Champions, who did a residency in L.A. in February, return Tuesday to play a show at Cinespace, marking the release of “Ameritown.”

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Recommended downloads

* Download “Gets Paid” by the Icarus Line at www.dimmak.com/media/icarusline/sounds/getspaid.mp3.

* Download Eastern Conference Champions’ “The Box” at www.mediafire.com/cyt0wy0dolt.

More on the Buzz Bands blog: www.latimes.com/buzzbands.