New Music: Crystal Castles – Plague (III)
Crystal Castles is one of those bands that I credit for broadening my musical horizons. As soon as their self-titled came out in 2008 I knew there was something about this music that I was becoming attached to, but I couldn’t explain it. I also didn’t understand it much at all, all that electronic stuff really baffled me (And it still does to an extent). But it got me to branch out and explore new sounds, appreciate layers, sound quality, and much more. I was somewhat turned off by the fact that my friends Kevin, Kathy and I stayed up super late at Bonnaroo (2009) after a crazy hot day to see them come on, and left the entire crowd just standing there as they were 45 minutes late. I was pretty pissed, but the short set they did end up playing was insane. Like, out of control fun and I still remember the placement of lights on stage, Alice’s voice penetrating every cell of our bodies, and music basically causing an earthquake around us. I forgave them. Plus they did a song with Robert Smith in the meantime so I can’t stay mad.
Anyway, when III came out I was pretty excited… But I didn’t expect to hear what I did. It is on another level. They have refined their sound so much that it’s almost intoxicating to listen to the album. The entire thing is worthy of praise, and the opening track “Plague” really sets the tone for the whole thing. Anyway put your headphones on and just listen, you’ll understand.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/54035078″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]