The discourse around whether or not rock music is dead is seemingly neverending, its many resurrections proclaimed with the frequency of a charlatan preacher. There’s no clear answer to the question, particularly when the rock stars of yore remain as listened to today as ever before, but equally it’s true that streaming culture has hammered the final nail into the linear nature of rock’s progression.

An album like Iceage’s ‘For Love Of Grace & The Hereafter’ is what constitutes quality rock music today, its jukebox jumble cribbing from multiple eras in highly skilled and charismatic fashion.

To their credit the Danish band have never really made the same album twice and on their sixth full length they continue to throw new approaches into their energetic indie-punk brew. 

The Weak is pure ‘50s rock ‘n’ roll, Star sounds like The Charlatans, while Salve For Every Sore is a country-fried take on The Velvet Underground.

The best tracks are the ones whose emotions rise above the various genre pastiches. Tender Blades is a gorgeous anthem, full of smartly-arranged, interlocking guitar leads. No Fear is also wonderful, built on a kinetic bassline and frontman Elias Rønnenfelt’s heartfelt vocals.

It would be an understatement to say that innovation in rock music is not as common as it once was. And yet, that doesn’t mean those left behind by the rapture are unworthy. ‘For Love Of Grace & The Hereafter’ nails the genre’s prerequisites — energy, passion, flair — and sometimes that’s enough.