» TAMING THE D A Z Z L E D///

TAMING THE D A Z Z L E D///

Interview: Crystal Stilts
words: Jamie Milton

originally scribed for gigwise

Re-kindling old flames doesn’t always go to plan. The post-punk dominance of the 80’s, the Joy Division-era, has been replicated by a whole range of modern day bands, only very badly. And whilst the Horrors are enjoying the tag of being the very first band for some time to play host to these influences with successful results, someone must have turned a blind eye to Crystal Stilts.

It’s clear that the reason why ‘Alight of Night’, the New York five-piece’s debut album, was overlooked in some places and dismissed as some coy attempt to lure in fans from a small set of famous, dissolved bands, is because many people failed to pick out the huge variety of influences swimming about in there. Kyle, keyboards, tells Gigwise: “A guy in Holland told me we sound like surf music, which is probably more true than saying we sound like Joy Division!” ‘Alight Of Night’ isn’t just a good 40 minutes of rip-roaring, lo-fi post-punk. The record exposes sensitive sides, ballads of sorts, in between the fire-starting, foot-tapping numbers such as ‘SinKing’ or ‘Departure’. And so whilst a few critics and a few thousand fans have caught on to the true appeal of the band, they remain wholly misunderstood. “I mean, we like those bands, so in that way it’s nice to be compared to them. But sometimes it’s like people writing about you are just repeating the same comparison they read somewhere else instead of listening for themselves.”

But the aforementioned fans are besotted with the band. Having just completed a UK jaunt, soon to return, Kyle reminisces of UK shows consisting of “so many serious music fans…already familiar with the record, singing along…it was nice.” And the band’s response to the huge collection of positive reviews? “It’s very flattering.” In his responses, you get the sense from Kyle that his band are only just beginning, familiarising themselves with territories, strategizing their next move. Progression was at the core of their debut album. The self-titled EP that lured so many in was anything but indicative of the diversity in the debut album. There was a kind of a swagger, a sense of experimentation that hardly anyone expected: “the album developed over a few years in the sense that some songs are older than others”. Formed in 2003, it took five years before they could hold a physical copy of their debut album. Money troubles and mixing issues led to its delay.

But there was this sense that ‘Alight of Night’ couldn’t have come at a better time. Arriving at the same point as female contemporaries Vivian Girls, Crystal Stilts and their companions made a run for it in 2008. All emerging from a fire-pit of talent, Brooklyn, talked of endlessly by the blogosphere as the significant, consistently impressive output for new bands, Kyle makes sure to play this talk down: ” I think the focus on a “Brooklyn scene” kinda misses the point. It’s just a part of a really big city where a lot of people live.” This is true. Brooklyn is essentially just a location, which happens to play habitat to a wide range of hype-making acts today. But Crystal Stilts have to count themselves slightly lucky for having Brookyln’s resources, contacts, support from other bands, right on their doorstep.

Latest single ‘Love Is A Wave’, the first material since the debut album, indicates a more up-beat attitude, formed through a similar production style to the record. When talking about a potential change in sound, Kyle stays rooted to the spot, mysterious: “maybe there is (a change in sound), and I just wanna keep it secret…” Either way, Crystal Stilts have emerged from a hectic period of album plugging, regular live shows, with fresh-faces. They’re in a healthy position to experiment once more and produce a sophomore album even more startling than their first creation…

mp3: Crystal Stilts – Sugarbaby (Love Is A Wave B-side) [alt]