Album Review: Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles

With the scale and the sheer duration of the hype that has surrounded them you'd be forgiven for thinking that this must be Crystal Castle's third album rather than their first and yet after all this time it is still good to finally get to grips with their sound in an album format.

Any band that manages to tip a hat to Death From Above 1979 whilst recontectializing the sound of one of their few recordings earns respect from BlackPlastic, particularly when it is done as
convincingly as on album opener 'Untrust Us'. It does well to encapsulate the melancholic 8bit derrangement of the Crystal Castles sound and yet it is blown out of the water by what follows: 'Alice Practice' is already known as the track that got accidentally picked up on MySpace and lead to the band's fame and yet it retains its status as a call to arms. At once evoking the feeling of a scorching summer's day whilst simultaneously operating as a platform for both Alice's vocal freak outs and the aural stuttering that acts as the counterpoint to the melodies. It doesn't care about songs or albums or genres or even you very much... 'Alice Practice' does as it pleases and you can either tag along or get off the bus.

So a good start. Yet the pressure, whilst maintained gradually wears off. Crystal Castles is uncompromising in the same way Death From Above were uncompromising and the same way Test Icicles were uncompromising. There are plenty more good tracks - former single 'Air War' still shines, a glittering stomp that sounds like your cell phone transforming into a hand grenade. 'Vanished', a spooky reimagining of Van She's 'Sexual City' is also a standout.

If anything the problem is that the audience may not be ready - as when a listener experiences a new genre there is a danger that the subtle differences that mark out each composition are list in the noise of their similarities. Crystal Castles' grinding 8bit punk begins to segue into one when stretched out over an hour as it is here. One can't help but wish for perhaps a little less or the introduction of anoter artist or two for the duo to play off, indeed their early remix of the Klaxon's 'Atlantis To Interzone' remains one the best things they have done.

And yet... BlackPlastic cannot help but think the listener is the one at fault here. Crystal Castles are just doing what they wantand staying true to their vision and it almost feels wrong to judge so soon: one to revisit over the coming months.

BP x

Album Review: Twenty One - Mystery Jets

It's worth pointing out, as a mild preamble to the main course, that Twenty One is being called such things as a marked departure for Mystery Jets... A maturing of their sound. Without wishing to let the cat out of the bag, let's just say this is a good record. But let us also take a moment to note that Making Dens, the album it follows, is far better than many would have you believe. 'Can't Fool Me Dennis' is beautiful pop and 'Horse Drawn Cart' makes progressive rock sound accessible and is certain to inspire empathy. What's more, 'Soluble In Air' is the sound of fresh, youthful, unrequited love... Boundless in enthusiasm and impossible to criticize or rationalize. Far too many folk have written this album off and to do so is foolish.

Twenty One wastes no time now it is finally here... 'Hideaway' starts the precedings with an air raid siren and the type of bassline the Klaxons would be proud of. It's a desperate yelp of a record, a lover spurned and frantic to set things right. Lead single, 'Young Love' still has cult-classic written all over it, capturing the curious affection of a stranger's infactuation perfectly with Laura Marling's vocals adding a further layer of class.

Every track here can justify its own comments but in a bid to save some surprises for the listener we shall merely highlight a few. The eighties touches present on 'Half In Love With Elizabeth' take the song to a whole new place following the rough edits that leaked last year whilst 'Flakes' is still nothing less than a beautiful, heart-stopping ballad that melts away in the head. Totally irresistably, 'Two Doors Down' is an eighties pop song recreated perfectly and is Twenty One's own 'Soluble In Air': romantic and unstoppable, you know if you lived two doors down from the Mystery Jets you wouldn't stay single for long, such is the determination on show here.

Erol Alkan's production shines through on this album and he truly demonstrates his worth. Whether it is in the shimmers that break through the melodies on 'Young Love' or the eighties stabs of 'Two Doors Down' he brings something new to the mix. More importantly he never fails to use the lightest of touches. Nothing here gets even remotely close to being a gimick, which ensures the record maintains a timeless sound.

The other reviews are right when they argue that Twenty One is a mature record. Where they are wrong is in their assertions that Making Dens wasn't and equally that this album is anything less than excellent.

BP x

Album Review: Get Awkward - Be Your Own Pet

Maybe it is BlackPlastic or maybe it is the world that has changed, but 2008 seems a much more suitable time for Be Your Own Pet. Their self-titled debut certainly made an ikpac on those that listened to it but, with the exception of the cycling anthem 'Bicycle, Bicycle, You Are My Bicycle', and in contrast to their peers Death From Above 1979 nothing quite managed to transcend the general racket it was born of.

Times have changed and a scuffle with the same album leaves BlackPlastic wondering why it wasn't on heavy rotation at the time. No matter: BYOP are back and Get Awkward sees all the attitude left in-tact.

Crashing down like a band determined to tear through their setlist as quickly as possible, 'Super Soaked' wastes no time or effort in demonstrating what Get Awkward is about: More of the same. If the world doesn't get what you are trying to do then just knock the volume up, increase the tempo and do it some more...

...And maybe it's just BlackPlastic's punk tendancies shining through but, in BYOP's case, this form of near religious fanaticism sure is appealing. 'Heart Throb' is a fantastic trash-ode to the joys of an extra-curricular crush whilst 'Becky' creates the perfect soundtrack to high-school bullying.

If noisy, bluesy, lo-fi punk-metal isn't you thing you will probably still not like Be Your Own Pet... But if the last album left you at least luke-warm then BlackPlastic suggests you re-visit. Be Your Own Pet may not be prepared to change, you might.

BP x

Album Review: Antidotes - Foals

Along with The Friendly Fires, Foals are potentially the most exciting band currently pushing the envelope of the rock / dance crossover, with previous hit 'Hummer' managing to convey the feeling and sound of minimal and glitch-house through rock music.

'Hummer' and Foals' other hit from last year, 'Mathletics', are notable for their absence on Antidotes. In their place we have the more recent 'Balloons' and current single 'Cassius'.

'Cassius' represents a good taster of what is on offer here: the precision of previous efforts is in place, the multitude of details conjuring something that is reminiscent of falling up the stairs in
slow motion. In addition to this and prevalent throughout Antidotes is a new notion of space. The sound is given more room to breath and the brass instruments are given room to bounce through the mix.

Whilst Dave Sitek (of the fantastic TV On The Radio) had his final mix rejected the influence is still clear, not just in the space and reverb but also in the multitude of genres absorbed into one piece. The production work is never less than staggering: 'Red Sock Pugie' and the brief 'Like Swimming' both sounds as though they were recorded underwater and indeed water almost appears to be a theme of the record... Olympic Airways sounds like warm rain.

The mood here is dark, the lyrics shattered like a broken pane of glass. "It's just another hospital" goes the chorus on 'Electric Bloom'. The meaning is unclear though it certainly doesn't sound positive - the music, however, shines through.

Antidotes is a record that strives for more. Foals could easily have churned out another seven tracks and add them to the four singles everybody knows. They didn't do that and the fact that they abandoned two fantastic tracks to make something new and cohesive is a testament
to their ideals - the fact it works is a testament to their abilities.

BP x

Album Review: X Marks Destination - The Whip

With the likes of The Foals (album review very shortly...) and Friendly Fires, 2008 is really looking to be the year Nu rave went 2.0. It's growing up - less about gaudy trouser / trainer combos and more about the music.

In the midst of this, signed to this minute's world's coolest label (Kitsuné... Durr), are The Whip. Last year 'Divebomb' proved pop music could be completely instrumental, completely dancefloor derived and completely vital, whilst more recently 'Sister Siam' and 'Trash' have proven this band can, well, function as a band.

X Marks Destination is neither a rock album nor is it a dance album and if it is close to anything, it's a New Order album... Not necessarily a bad thing, the references are obvious and the likeness demonstrated most of all on the melodic 'Frustration', which even has a title that sounds like it could be New Order.

So what's right with it? X Marks Destination manages to sound sufficiently "now", most of the time. All of the previous singles still glitter in varying and different ways and 'Divebomb' continues to give pleasure in new ways with further listens: It sounds like the soundtrack to the most exciting 16bit videogame you ever played. The album also benefits from an interesting "monochromatic" sound, and it undoubtably hangs together as a cohesive body of work.

Where it falls down is perhaps where it strays from the formula. "Perhaps" because, at times, the tracks that stray work too... The almost ballad-esque 'Sirens' works better than it should, conjuring an eighties soft-rock dream that is almost as lush as Van She's take on the genre, 'Kelly'. When sandwiched amongst tracks that outshine it so much however, the overly rock inspired 'Muzzle #1' is simply dull. The singer's comparitively gruff tones are also in danger of simply making the band sound too old for the music when compared to their contempories, a shame given that when they are applied aggressively such vocals can really cut the mustard.

X Marks Destination is still likely to crop up on some year's best album lists: it contains nine good songs and five great ones... It is just a shame it only contains one fantastic one.

BP x