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Intended for release in February 2012, this swan song was meant to be the trumpet blast of the next wave of Icily Polite recordings as chief collective visionary and guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Fa_Sha saw it. Following a brief hiatus which was not officially announced by the band but heralded by tumultuous public interactions between band members (Breaderick "DJ Fo Skintley" Jacks called Fa_Sha a "layabout Yngwie Malmsteen wannabe" on Twitter) and cancellation of webcast dates meant to embed new, interactive and tangibly edible technologies, it was clear that the future of the band was grim like Professor Grimm. Fa_Sha sought to reinvent the group once again, inviting plausible new members over to the groups' house in Seattle to invigorate new chemistry to the now palpably stale air of the band. After two years and finally setting a timeline for the recording, release and distribution of A Million Happy Hands on single-sided invisible 45, the track was laid down in tight fashion, quickly mixed down and... did not see the light of day.
The new lineup included Fa_Sha's then-girlfriend Melly Tonin on keys, brother Fa_Show on rhythm guitar and percussion, son and founding member Lil' Cardshark on drums and third founding member Chris Chrippled on bass. Meant to evoke the flamboyant 80's pop quip of artists like Michael Jackson as well as blue-eyed soul artists Hall & Oates and Kenny Loggins, Fa_Sha's vision was, as many have praised and some others criticized, too derivative for its own good.
As to whether the 45 was ever pressed, the books don't quite specify whether the lacquers were paid for shortly before the group's label folded. Ironically, an invisible 45 comes as an exasperating analogy for the hard work of every artist whose work will undoubtedly be pushed to the fringe by years of indifference. Perhaps there is a box shelved somewhere, seemingly empty, and yet if one were to reach their hand in and believe that they were to be met with tangible music made by talented, equally tangible musicians...
Social isolation, empowered rhetoric and a squandering love song. It's all there, the themes ever-present throughout the Icily Polite discography. Give a spin to what was once the next phase of bright ideals and post-punk experimentation by Seattle's own "virtual" band The Icily Polite.
released October 18, 2017
Recorded and mixed by the Icily Polite in February 2012
Mastered by Louis Ramsay
Art by Jim Ether
