Crystal Castles
Crystal Castles II


4.5
superb

Review

by Reverse Perpendiculars USER (27 Reviews)
January 18th, 2015 | 12 replies


Release Date: 2010 | Tracklist

Review Summary: You're still the one who makes me feel much taller than you are

It is a noxious bliss. When I first considered that Crystal Castles goaded their own success from the start with an awfully-named singer Alice Glass belting out moan-induced lyrics above a melancholy synth and a typical dance beat and had still sounded this good, I couldn't help but repeat "Baptism" and "Suffocation" to a fault. To even consider that Crystal Castles is one of the most conspicuous groups to experiment with the so-called "8-bit Nintendo sound," it would be stupid to think that they don't make as many enemies as they do listeners. We're given a DIY production on their debut that appeared to sample and sound straight out of The Little Mermaid on Game Boy, and then two years later they drop a peerless lo-fi of a witch house electronic record that boasted an abrasive front and a melancholy backdrop; a sequel that was sentimental and condoned to appear worthy of being played on a rave floor.

Think hard now. Remember how Lords of Acid had sex and getting high as the pinnacle themes of every one of their drug-induced rave beats? Yeah me neither, because I was f*cking two years old at the time and there wasn't an internet to help underground electronic bands find their listeners. This is why Crystal Castles is the modern throwback to everything I missed out on for not being born a decade earlier, however avoiding the vapid "sex and drugs" attunement in favor of alluding to melancholy love to abuse, fear, and gender confusion. All the while they maintain a distorted calm throughout the tracks. That's what makes this so great. Of course, then there is the lone case of “Doe Deer" where they essentially blast beat your ears with a string of indecipherable and yet somehow innate screaming over a repeating two second melody. This could be to act as a reverse 'eye of the storm' between "Celestica" and "Baptism," to further accentuate the latter's f*cking brilliant chorus, something that should have warranted even further success to the group.

One of the larger quarrels I've held against "Vietnam" in particular is how ***ing annoying it is to overuse a string of pitch-altering tones, but after the first 90 seconds it brilliantly blossoms into a state of bell ridden tranquility. There are no overwhelming climaxes or climactic moments that are meant to take the focal point of Crystal Castles II, yet Ethan Kath and Alice Glass' sentimental attitude gives their music a consistent feeling of elation as if it is a prerogative skill they both possess.

Of course they had to cement their status among their peers by including a Sigur Ros sample in the "Inni mér syngur vitleysingur," and by featuring Robert Smith of The Cure in the apt standout "Not in Love." It then works tenfold with their transition away from their self-branding of video game culture into more current ambient and IDM. It is not really anything like ambient or IDM, true, but this is why their development from to their debut to their sequel is so meaningful, because it shows their maturation as artists and the increase in the quality of their music. Note the last three tracks where, in one fell swoop, the "Not in Love/Intimate" combo plays as a self-deprecating set of repressed loves (and dually like a remembrance I particularly had in the tune of Pokémon Blue's eerie Lavender Town.) Then "I Am Made of Chalk" fades the album into an underwater hell like a convoluted hash of Aphex Twin's earlier works and dark ambiance. It's a sadness that plays from the start of "Fainting Spells," and echoes beautifully throughout with moments of electronic aggression and grab its listeners and grounds them.



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user ratings (994)
3.8
excellent
other reviews of this album
dylantheairplane (4.5)
This is your baptism. And you can't forgive them....

WashboardSuds (4)
CC2 is just the kind of sophomore release you want to see from an artist, with Glass and Kath findin...

Smevin (4)
Crystal Castles haven't grown any more sophisticated or interesting in titling their albums, but tha...



Comments:Add a Comment 
Parallels
January 18th 2015


10166 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

I don't care what you think, except that I do

Tunaboy45
January 18th 2015


18563 Comments


Good review man, pos.

Mort.
January 18th 2015


26090 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

yeah good review man, posd



shame they broke up

jtswope
January 18th 2015


5788 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Yeah I would've loved to keep hearing new material from these guys.

Parallels
January 18th 2015


10166 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

"like what is that smh please explain"



Maybe someday I will explain my insane reasoning to you.



And thx.

MattTD
January 18th 2015


678 Comments


Crystal Castles were on my list of "Bands I have to see live". Now there's no chance of seeing them



Parallels
July 14th 2015


10166 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

not with alice glass anyway its not likely but im glad he's still trying to make something out of it, i just hope its up to par with before

Mort.
July 14th 2015


26090 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

it wont be



and this is one of my favourite bands, ive lost all hope for them. deicide and frail are both meh

Parallels
July 14th 2015


10166 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

I haven't heard them yet out of fear



I'll wait until they actually put out a release of a respectable size

Parallels
October 11th 2015


10166 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

I got to listen to them for a while and I think Deicide and Frail were pretty good imo, im hyped for IV

Mort.
October 11th 2015


26090 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

i listened to them while i was high as fuck recently and thought they were pretty good, but that doesnt mean a lot





alienobserver
October 11th 2015


4499 Comments


purity ring < crystal castles < grimes



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