Crystal Castles - “Celestica”
There’s a pretty big disconnect between Alice Glass and Ethan Kath in their grimy hipster hood-rat garb swilling cheap cans of beer in the middle of the day and the delicate, wounded sweep of “Celestica.” It’s a fitting illustration of the loose stylistic binary that defines Crystal Castles, something that was a lot easier to talk about back when you could point to moments of sharp, malicious ugliness that put the smoother stuff in perspective. Here, it’s a much subtler art. Kath does a great job of manipulating volumes, using the rise and fall of hissy white noise to punctuate the beginnings of phrases. And even though Glass sings in the softest and most vulnerable voice she can muster, they’re not afraid to sample it, chop it up, and pitch it down to a deep moan. I think that slippery fearlessness is what makes Crystal Castles’ 2010 output appealing: even if they’re not screaming at you nearly as much, their confidence is ironclad.
5 Notes/ Hide
-
lunchboxoddsox liked this
-
saradougz liked this
-
popcornnoises posted this
