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Crystal Castles have got themselves about a bit
of late including features on Gossip Girl’s
soundtrack, festival appearances around the UK and
tours tours tours. The experiemental Canadian duo
made up of Ethan Kath and Alice Glass have released
their latest album, Crystal Castles, are named after
She-Ras home and site their influences as ‘murder,
blank looks on girls and knives.’ Inspiring.
Greeting your ears with electric shocks in the form
of Fainting perhaps wasn’t the kindest introduction.
Hybrids of synthesised distortion and electronica
reverberate along your ear canal; their sine waves
of impending migraines scratching at your frontal
lobes like an unruly cat on a post.
Thankfully Celestica drifts in second place. Delightful
2x4 electropop as soft vocals float over the top
of keyboards and palatable electro-beats. This gentle
sounding track is the perfect calm in a storm of
an album right before Doe Deer pitches in. DNB beats
pound around the outside of screeching vocals. Affronting
vocals they maybe, but Doe Deer is sure to not only
get you moving but keep you raving – Jager
fuelled or not!
As if Crystal Castle’s self titled album couldn’t
get any more diverse, experimental or confused (you
decide!), Baptism rocks in stacked with dancehall
synths, hypnotic rhythms and an anthem chorus worthy
of any packed out festival tent as lyrics weave
a picture less expected of the religious ceremony.
“
After a listen or two to Year Of Silence, you’ll
try your hardest to sing along to the many dreamy
sounding lexicons that should just roll off the
tongue. Don’t be disheartened when you just
can’t get it right. Yes, I though one of the
lyrics was “I ama cloud”. I was wrong.
Anyway, a title that is nothing short of ironic
when Crystal Castles show no sign of silencing any
time soon. And that’s a good thing as the
critically acclaimed duo continues to experiment
with melancholic lo-fi productions with pure chaos.
Violent Dreams and Vietnam provide a softness in
amongst its shrill and asphyxiating deafening playlist
brethren. Birds and Pap Smear continue this false
sense of security in the otherwise untouched dark
hole of dance music before Not In Love slides up
the rear; nothing but heartbreak wrapped inside
2-d Nintendo artefacts. Glass and Kath cleverly
utilise Intimate to lift you right back up to dance
floor leviathan status, deafening distortion included
about 2 minutes 40 seconds into the track, and then
climax their screwdriver collection with the ear
shattering I Am Made Of Chalk. Is it a bird? Is
it a dolphin? Is it…oh, who cares! I Am Made
Of Chalk moves you from ocean to church in steps
that should be impossible; turns out, it’s
totally do-able. It’s weird but do-able.
Crystal Castles is a fourteen track head-fuck. Either
it’s the salt to your slug or the Ben to your
Jerry. The Cannuck duo shoves their unique brand
of ferocious electro-dance down your throat with
spontaneous deathly Atari soundscapes thrust in
heavy doses. Lovelorn, religious and melancholy
lyrics the final nail in the coffin of this anthrax-laced
Marmite record.
3.5/5
Review by Jessica Acreman |
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| Band
Members |
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| Track
Listing |
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1. Fainting Spells
2. Celestica
3. Doe Deer
4. Baptism
5. Year of Silence
6. Empathy
7. Suffocation
8. Violent Dreams
9. Vietnam
10. Birds
11. Pap Smear
12. Not in Love
13. Intimate
14. I Am Made of Chalk |
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Related Links |
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| Review
Score Code |
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- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
-
What Was That? |
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