Crystal Castles are an odd one for me. I've looked, but never touched.
Perhaps it was their image. Perhaps it was the, at least to begin with, inaccessibility of their music. Perhaps it was the overbearing hype built up on the internets and in the new music sections of your common or garden music mag.
Whatever, all of the aforementioned were enough to douse any curiosity that may have been aroused..
Until last week. In a car destined for deepest darkest Devon no less. And the one to introduce me to the frenzied, gameboy infused sound of Ethan Kath and Alice Glass; me ol’ man. A jumped up A&R man A kitchen designer from Woking. Odd.
Still, having been presented with the opportunity to give Crystal Castle’s self titled debut a thorough listen, I came out with a new perspective on the dance/rave/bleep/alt.punk scene. From the scuzzy vocals of early single ‘Alice Practice’, to the ominous synth and dancey beat of ‘Courtship Dating’, the child-like the radio-friendly ‘Knights’, the album peaks during ‘Love and Caring’, a breathless and soaring track with equal measures of Glass’s unique vocal style and Kath’s electronic wizardy.
The entire album sounds very much as though it’s been knocked up in a bedroom with a koassilator, but this is purely indicative of the band’s designation as ‘new’ and ‘cutting edge’. And yet, despite the rough and ready nature of their punk ethos, a constituent element of fragility and emotional sensitivity remains pervaded by Glass’s damaged lyrics. And yes, I would be lying if I claimed each track is easily distinguished (The variations in pitch and tone of each gameboy bleep soon wear thin), but this only allows room for improvement in the inevitable follow - up, and is not detrimental to the overall quality of the album in any significant manner.
So, in summary, an excellent, if flawed album. Well worth sticking your nose into, even if you are staunchly anti -electronica.
Me likey.
If not the entire album, get: Alice Practice & Love and Caring
