Crystal Castles II

Sure its 2 months late but you never cared anyway.

Back in 2008 my dearest and oldest friend Cody introduced me to a band called Crystal Castles. From then on at least once a week (often times more) for two years I listened to their self titled debut from start to finish. Glitchy shrieking electro with a fuck you punk attitude? How could it not be awesome? Fast forward to 2010 and here I am anticipating the follow up to the most important band of my adulthood. Will it suck? How could they possibly live up to their previous work? I actually lost a little sleep over it. The album finally gets leaked (I still bought it :P) and you know what? It is AMAZING, just an eyelash shy of their last album. A bit more reserved but willing to explore their darker side, Crystal Castles finally established themselves in the main stream as one of the most cutting edge bands of the 21st century. At least that's what I tell myself as I blast through their new album again and again on my way to work casually hurling insults at other drivers for their crappy taste in music (even if I can't hear them).
The first half of the album is a beast covering more ground in varying styles and sound than most bands do in their careers. From the nihilistic drone and grind of Fainting Spells to the euphoric radio friendly Cellestia to the brutal punchy assault of Doe Deer (my current favorite)Crystal Castles delivers on all fronts. Baptism and Year of Silence finish the flawless opening which soon turns from trance-like glory to slow, dark and brooding. It all starts to feel a bit formulaic but still manages to pull out some real surprises with tracks like Intimate, Pap Smear and Violent Dreams, a song that plays like the pulse of a dying man. The main difference between their two albums are these filler songs. Their debut was filled with fun, short and catchy instrumentals while here they are replaced with dirty 4 minute grooves. It weights the album down a bit but does encourage a more thorough listen to Ethan Kath's amazing song writing skills.
If you need your music to be familiar and friendly go elsewhere. This is the future of pop and quite frankly pop has been long overdue for a face lift.

9.8/10

Sing along! DEATHRAY DEATHRAY DEATHRAY DEATHRAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEE