Album Review - Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles - Noize Makes Enemies

Meet Crystal Castles. Having already built up an enormous fanbase all dutifully thrashing about to their music, Crystal Castles’ debut album has definitely been eagerly awaited by many. Listing their influences as murder, blank looks on girls and knives, they are quintessentially the personification of originality. From the first track, their experimental Electronica sound gives the impression that you’ve stepped into your Dell laptop whilst someone thumps effortlessly effectively from up above on a Cassio keyboard. Combine this with vocals reminiscent of Bjork on acid and you’re fully submerged into the innovative creations of Crystal Castles. Whilst appearances on cult television show Skins and regular coverage in NME can only do good things for the Toronto-hailing duo, this does come with its risks. By this I mean that all too often, new unique bands get attached to rusty wheels by publications in order to make them the latest bandwagon band. However, the certain Marmite love-or-hate quality definitely applies to Crystal Castles because of their distinctive sound. Tracks like ‘Through the Hosiery’ and ‘Xxzxcuzx Me’ will be thought headache-inducing distasteful noise to some, whilst fans responsible for their 60,000 plus play count on Myspace will stick two neon-painted-finger-nailed fingers up at any critics of the two-piece. Yet, like them or loathe them, be warned, once you press play on this sixteen track debut, it’s nigh on impossible to forget Crystal Castles.