Crystal Castles Remix the Little Ones

Such different bands, such a happy combo!

Concert Review: Crystal Castles w/ Fujiya and Miyagi at Webster Hall

Sold out show's are always interesting because you can really gauge how popular a band is. Is everyone here a die hard fan? Or are these all people who scan the blogosphere vapidly, waiting with trepidation to disagree with the various acclaimed music bloggers? If not disagree, then to drool in amazement, because this band is going to blow their socks off.

Crystal Castles sold out shortly after tickets went on sale. In the two weeks prior to the show, people were asking $150 a ticket on Craigslist. Thats a lot of hype for two kids from Canada. I was tired, so I didn't stand in the crowd for Fujiya and Miyagi, but I kept getting up to see if it was actually a live performance, because from my seated position, they sounded dead on like the recording. It was freakish. I was in the balcony lounging on the sofas, so I can't give them any sort of solid review, other than to say that I was really impressed with their set. It was intensely well rehearsed and clean. They had these awesome graphics involving dice that really blew me away too.

The crowd was really there to see Crystal Castles, and it was obvious. The band is made up of Ethan Kath who is the musical talent, and performer Alice Glass. Kath gets the audience warmed up with a bit of an intro. Searingly bright strobes come on. And then there is Alice. She basically gets on stage and starts wailing into the vocoder. She doesn't stand still for the whole show. She is just there for antics, and she knows what she is doing. From pouring booze onto the audience to crowd surfing, she doesn't stop from the minute the set starts.

Alice isn't contributing much musically to the act, but the audience loves her with a burning passion. Her wild on-stage voodoo creates a trance akin to tweens at a Backstreet Boys concert. Everyone is going wild merely because she is there. Crystal Castles doesn't create pleasing sounds either, so it is definitely the beats that draw the crowd.

If you get the chance to see them don't miss it. Wear your dancing shoes, and have a few drinks. Life is short, and this is something to write home about.

Record Review: Crystal Castles Self Titled

It is unusual that a band accidentally releases a single and then gets a record deal. Toronto duo Ethan Kath and Alice Glass managed to do just that. The MySpace leak, "Alice Practice", eventually became the second song on their eponymous first album. “Alice Practice” landed in the second slot on the album, encouraging listeners toward their melodic, syncopated opening track "Untrust Us". The first two tracks define the character of the album: divided into melodic, rhythmic pop beats and dark, noise-distortion heavy tracks. The weakness is the underlying lack of cohesion. Although variety is valuable, there isn’t a strong enough bond between the melodic tracks and the dark tracks. “Crimewave” and “Untrust Us” almost belong to one album, while “Alice Practice” and “xxzxcuzx me” might belong to another. Oddly, this disparity is also the strength of the album. There isn’t one second where the hooks try to hold you for too long, or where the next track is underwhelming. Like it or not, Crystal Castles has created a multi-lingual, looped, catchy-ass bunch of songs.

Crystal Castles

I read blurb about them on Stereogum...then proceeded to ignore them, despite the awesome track they posted. Recently (like 5 minutes ago) a friend reminded me of their exsistance, and Check them out here. Like Dan Deacon, only minus the goofy. Not only is it good electro-dance, but I think its a higher level of listenability than most of the electro dance stuff than I usually hear. So...that about sums it up....

<3 The Elephant