CRYSTAL CASTLES: CRYSTAL CASTLES

Crystal Castles: Crystal Castles

Label: Last Gang Records

Release Date: March 15, 2008

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.

<3 The Elephant