While the favorite Crystal Castles album of many is Crystal Castles (II), which was released this year, the experimental nature of Crystal Castles' eponymous debut has always managed to draw me inwards in a way that the sophomore never has. I know, and have been told by many a CC (II) enthusiast that Crystal Castles' first album was the one where they "tried to find their sound," and that it is messy and directionless, with too little structure and too much "filler."
I can understand how one could see the album as being disfigured and disheveled, but that is exactly what makes it so astounding. Crystal Castles, the album, never struggles to be something that it is not. It is perfect in its chaos and mighty in its power to produce strong, brash music that is also capable of being danced to. There are songs like Through The Hosiery and Xxzcuzx Me that seem to have been created to breed mosh pits, and other tracks like Untrust Us and Courtship Dating that were obviously made simply for the purpose of recreational dance.
With Ethan Kath delivering imaginative, abrasive yet catchy beats, and Alice Glass providing noise rock vocal styles that are almost impure and unclean in their rawness, this album is a brilliant mash up of dirty and clean. Even with the second Crystal Castles album being more accessible and party friendly, I still struggle to understand how it is at all better than its older brother.
Favorite songs: Untrust Us, Air War, Courtship Dating
My Rating: 9.0/10
Download.
No comments:
Post a Comment