The Martlet

Crystal Castles Crystal Castles II Fiction

If you were a young girl in the 1980s and had any interest in the TV cartoon, you might remember She-Ra, He-Man’s twin sister and female counterpart. In 2008, Crystal Castles released their first album, taking their name from the character’s aerial fortress.

Electro musician Ethan Kath and noise-punk vocalist Alice Glass had joined forces back in 2005 to begin producing singles based off of Kath’s solo instrumental work, and by the time Lies Records released the full-length self-titled debut album, the band’s 7″ singles had sold out all over England.

Crystal Castles immediately became the latest hipster heroin: an ear-aching mix of bit-crushed female wails and precision drum machine club rhythms.

Recently, the success of groups like MSTRKRFT, Justice, and Ratatat has chiseled out a little niche of electronic music outside the realm of 30-minute DJ podcasts and Eurotrash nightclubs. Crystal Castles did a number on this scene with their first album, confusing the hell out of half of the listeners and sucking in everyone else.

Crystal Castles II is no different. Glass’ voice is darker and sadder in some ways, exploring its boundaries, going from more-glitchy-than-ever-before to a strange lilting melody like some sped-up bagpipe dirge.

The album still has some dance club-esque cuts, “Baptism” for one, but on the whole it is simply too weird to be anything other than a long listen through your headphones while walking in the dark. The melodies seem deeper here, moody synths poking at your emotions like shiatsu massage, and even the insistent thump of the kick has a certain soulful underscore – if you don’t listen to this album with the bass cranked, you’ll lose a lot of the subtext. “Doe Deer” is scary as shit, with Glass’ voice compressed out to a tormented shriek with an urgent, driving rhythm of distortion. On the other extreme, “Pap Smear” lets her echo out in a schoolyard sing song while keyboard trills evoke visions of a Barbie castle made of broken glass.

If you have no stomach for pain it might be unpalatable, but give this record at least one chance.