As I write this, it’s all over the news: Kurt Vonnegut Jr. has just died. A hero of mine has passed away, but he left us his genius. It was Vonnegut’s Cat’s Cradle that inspired this song. In it, “ice-nine” is a chemical that turns the world into a ball of ice, unintentionally. Cold, distorted detachment and icy clean guitars with pleading blues riffs riding on top of a big, huge groove - that’s how I would tell this story. Guitar solos brazen and in your face. Still, the melody had to rule. Everything had to have its own special soul. I think we even used the studio talkback mic for the backwards solo, my guitar going through a pint-sized Gorilla amp. Why not?