Third time’s the charm

It is all too common for bands to form out of sheer boredom, and that’s exactly what Crystal Castles used to sound like. Used to.

COURTESY OF fiction records

Crystal Embrace: Fiction Records’ Crystal Castles put it together on their aptly titled third album, III.

Back in 2008, Crystal Castles came under some intense fire in Canada for repurposing free, instrumental chiptunes tracks and having vocalist Alice Glass shriek over them.

Because chiptunes is the antithesis of cool to the Crystal Castles crowd, the two paths never intersected and the band was able to skate by without much rabble. Sleuths cracked the case, however, and chiptunes artist Covox was added to Crystal Castles’ album credits.

In 2010 Crystal Castles veered into darker territory, but Glass’ vocals were just as shrieky and unhinged as ever. At the same time, producer Ethan Kath stepped up his game, and the instrumentation on the band’s second eponymous effort canceled out Glass’ drunken karaoke vocals. The album was mostly a wash but showed real promise.

As it stands now, Crystal Castles is teetering on the edge between poster children for 21st-century cocaine culture and absolute voltage-controlled renaissance. How do they fare on III?

Crystal Castles has been forced to walk the tightrope, with Kath’s instrumentals struggling to carry the band to the other side, where a safety net of rich electronics—unhindered by bandmate Glass—waits to catch him.

On previous albums, Kath recorded the instruments, then sent the mixes ahead to Glass, who then yelped and screeched over them. On III, it sounds as if those days are over, and the two now share a vision—one where Glass doesn’t try nearly as hard—to pleasing results.

Strangely, the album begins with a track that sounds like a closing track (it’s even the lengthiest cut on the record). I don’t know if Crystal Castles planned it this way, but it certainly sounds like this track, titled “Plague,” is the closer to 2010’s record.

What follows a couple tracks later seems like a rebirth for the band, as if Kath and Glass lured the old Crystal Castles into an ice-filled bathtub, dug its organs out and repurposed them in a much sleeker body. Gone are the bulk of Glass’ banshee calls, and in their place is more of Kath’s dense programming and Glass’ newfound talent for sonic sculpture.

After the death of Crystal Castles’ old style, the harmonic tendencies come pouring in, albeit slowly, starting with track three, “Wrath of God.” Drawing from immediate contemporary electronic music, this song sounds like a cut of witch house not too far removed from Pictureplane, the genre’s somewhat reluctant pioneer.

Because the genre is unknown to so many, Crystal Castles come out smelling like roses, and that’s completely fine. It’s a curious musical category without much mainstream exposure as of yet. The track is almost too sparse, but it is at the end of “Wrath of God” that the last drops of the old Crystal Castles have been squeezed out.

The band is in full metamorphosis by track four, “Affection.” Once again, his fishing net in the current-EDM (electronic dance music) pond, Kath manages to craft a string of trap tunes laced with haunting vocal effects. I know what you’re thinking—witch house? Trap? I understand your confusion.

Just realize that witch house is exactly what it sounds like: spooky-sounding house music. As for trap; imagine the bastard child of dirty-South hip-hop and dubstep. Trust me, it’s not as bad as it sounds, and Crystal Castles works hard to ensure that its sublimation is as painless as possible.

The tracks “Pale Flesh,” “Affection” and “Mercenary” all feature flashes of trap music and showcase Kath’s cutting-edge sensibilities, and the tracks back up his chops immensely. “Mercenary” is the standout track on the entire record, but is cut woefully short. It could have easily been twice as long and not lost a bit of appeal.

Of course there are flashes of Crystal Castles records past on the album. In particular, “Insulin” shows that the band still has as much clamor and ruckus as they ever did, but the abuse of the reverse delay and filtering effects on the track make it sound slightly amateurish. Good news, though: The track is short enough to not play itself out, and works fine as a brief segue.

Only a handful of tracks on III don’t fall into the witch house or trap genres, and “Transgender” is one of them. It’s also as close to a concept track as Crystal Castles will likely ever get.

The song starts with a bewildering array of bell tones and intense filtering—perhaps to simulate feelings of being trapped in a vacuum—and confusion and dread. Eventually, the track finishes off on an upbeat note, all while using the same sonic palate as before. Things will look up if you just be yourself. Whoa.

Wedged in the middle of III is the album’s certified dance-floor volcano, “Sad Eyes.” Drawing mostly from electro house with just a tinge of witch stirred in, the track is as traditionally dance-y as the band has ever been. It’s refreshing on a record like this—a dark swath of IDM (intelligent dance music) basted in effects.

Finally, at the end of your journey, you are treated to a real closing track that sounds nothing like any other Crystal Castles track ever written.

“Child I Will Hurt You” makes you proud, as a Crystal Castles fan, to see how far they’ve come since Glass’s vomiting-dalek-esque vocals on the band’s first demos. The final track sounds very grown up, like the closing credits to a great movie. It closes just as soft as it opens, and has enough nuance to really keep the listener engaged.

Crystal Castles finally has sprouted a sapling of longevity and no longer sound like they’re on a fad’s trajectory. It’s somewhat comforting to watch a band come as far as Crystal Castles has; to see two young people bury the carcass of youthful boredom and start from scratch is inspiring, to say the least.

The band has found its stride as an innovator and tastemaker, and hopefully they will stray no longer.