Taken from this year’s ‘Eyelid Movies‘, set for a February re-release, ‘When I’m Small‘, were it to be stripped from the glossy synthetics, could have been written by a couple of 14-year-olds – fresh-faced but not that talented. It begins with a tranquil, teasing hip-hop beat before unleashing an amateur-ish, top E string guitar riff. It’s as relatively simple as Gnarls Barkley’s ‘Crazy‘, the kind of song you kick yourself for not writing.
But Phantogram release their collection of ideas in the chorus; bare of beats, exposed and supported by a vulnerable, delay-ridden guitar line, Sarah Barthel floating above, her voice fragmented into tiny particles amongst the spacious surroundings. It closes on a crescendo where nothing is filtered out – the complete polar opposite of how it starts. This is futuristic pop music made by an intelligent pair from New York City.
mp3// When I’m Small
Today the band announced that they were signed to Barsuk Records.
ALBUM: Crystal Stilts – Alight Of Night
words: Jamie Milton
Let die the petty comparisons that come with a new band with a bad mood and a bass-heavy, stripped down sound. I needn’t mention the name of the act that’s gotten cosy with the likes of Interpol, Snowden and Editors. They’re also becoming a familiar face with Crystal Stilts, but that could be put to shame with ‘Alight of Night’ because with this album, we see glimpses of a new intelligence that divides them from the 80’s contemporary, we see a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel with this situation that has bogged down the moody, modern day, garage punk band.
And this “new intelligence” is as visible as breath on a cold window, it’d be hyperbolic to try and claim Crystal Stilts to be revolutionaries of their genre but they’re playing new tricks and they’re all the better for it. Their debut is minimal, making the obnoxious, flared-up punk energy that’s so raucous in their live shows, not peaceful, but tolerable and most of all, explorable. With Times New Viking’s purposely lo-fi ‘Rip It Off’, it’s difficult to uncover anything other than the frenzy of a sound they claim as their own. But with ‘Alight of Night’ you hear sensitivity, melancholy and most importantly, vulnerability on top of this fire-starting punky vigor.
Wherever this was recorded, it added a new-found atmosphere to the band’s already carefully moulded outlook of doom. It crafted this new sense of variety to their sound. Whereas ‘Departure’ (previously of a different title) used to be a bog-standard, enj
oyable none the less, pessimistic punk piece, a newly added complex bassline, a lower pitch of vocals and a more simplistic drum pattern has given the option to the listener to interpret the song in their own way. That’s not always the case, ‘Bright Night’ retains its rude and abrupt attitude, as does ‘SinKing’, a racey number that never lacks in its determined and almost angry stance.
But on ‘Alight of Night’ it seems as if Crystal Stlits have set out to defy any critics that classify every one of their songs as similar to one another. They’ve added diversity in mood, pace etc. and have in turn, truly surprised me, among many others I’d expect. ‘Shattered Shine’ may present an exclusive slant of happiness, but inside it’s still very much the same band we’re listening to as in the background a giant slap of feedback is brought into peice halfway through. Nevertheless, this is very much a different scope of sounds altogether; we’re drawn striaght towards it with opener ‘The Dazzled’, a classy, smooth welcome mat for the listener – a complete contrast to the predatory beast that follows in the form of a self-titled second track. And from then-afterwards the quieter, more melancholic chunks are scattered in between the conventional up-tempo “anthems” of sorts that were on display from the start with their debut EP.
And this self-titled EP was a quick, sure-fire way of getting some much-deserved attention and since then, they’re clearly worked on and almost mastered a sound that blends optimism and tenderness into something we’d never have expected to hear from such a frankly, miserable bunch.
8.9
PLAY: Crystal Stlits – Crystal Stlits [Buy 'Alight of Night']
INTRODUCING: Boy Crisis
Words: Jamie Milton
myspace photo credit: ben rowland
“ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah…you can do me like…Bruce Springsteen.”
If ever a band can win you over on sheer audacity via. their words, it’s probably going to be Boy Crissis.
So how did we discover these New Yorkers? Well, it’s hard not to have discovered them by now. Placed eighth in NME’s “bands that are saving America” feature above Black Kids, Fleet Foxes, White Denim, you name ‘em. There was that and there was their small coverage in the bible of the NY music scene, deli magazine. Oh, and they’re in MGMT’s top friends. Funny thing is the last factor might’ve been the most important. Now they’re ready to take over the world, with a little bit of a shove and a movement onwards from the one-hit wonder status that could emerge with the wondrous ‘Dressed To Digress’.
They sound futuristic, careless (but all the more for it) and classy. Is there more to them than one song? Well, there’s certainly guts. ‘Seven Years War’ is a glorious merging of melodies in a Beck/Of Montreal multi-sample force, it’s precious. But ‘Dressed To Digress’ is the one that’s interesting us, anybody, everybody the most. Listen to it yourself and discover what makes Boy Crisis a rare treat in a hefty, heavy but raging New York scene that’ll be looked back on with fondness in a few years time.
PLAY: Boy Crisis – Dressed To Digress
Boy Crisis myspace
Album: Ratatat – LP3
words: Jamie Milton
(originally written for gigwise)
This is what happens when you put Mike Stroud and Evan Mast in a derelict, inspiring old house in New York – crammed full of extraordinary keyboard instruments Ratatat could only have previously dreamed of. If ever the words “progression” and “maturity” were made to describe music, they’d be mentioned next to every description of ‘LP3′ and if ever experimentation was pulled off instead of coming across as false and reckless, ‘LP3′ is the primary example.
The striking thing about ‘LP3′’s songs is that they’re all made for adverts or opening sequences of films. Audi, Orange Universal, you name it, will all be dialling Ratatat’s “important people” at XL when their ears first stumble across this record. But this classification of calling the songs advert music is anything but a dismissal. Imagine a cinematic beauty being accompanied by the glorious record opener ‘Shiller’ – it’d be somewhat breathtaking. Instead of letting the beauty of the album’s finer moments ruin themselves when you discover them in a BMW advert, allow them to be the background to your day-to-day life. The acoustic-led darling ‘Mi Vjejo’, with its obvious Spanish influence, can be your early morning and the most danceable number, ‘Shempi’ can be your night out. Let your days be dominated by ‘LP3′ blasting through your portable player’s headphones – you may suffer from the odd side effect of social deprivation but it’ll be more than worth it.
‘LP3′ is meant to be played on repeat, endlessly. You never tire of the shimmering, uplifting sounds that are produced – each number varying in depth and experimentation, there’s constantly a new layer of each song to be discovered on each passing listen. And that’s how the multi-instrumentalist stance the two-piece have taken has benefited them. Some fans may grow increasingly unsure of the lack of guitars, but it’s beneficiary in giving way to some of the more obscure ideas Ratatat have been urging to let loose since their self-titled debut. When the soaring guitars do enter however, they sound more required than ever before – there’s a place in every song for them and they consistently deliver the goods whether they come in the form of a piercing solo (‘Falcon Job’) or a subtle muted part (‘Imperials’).
Stroud and Mast previously worked best when attempting to make us dance but despite the fact that the more memorable moments on the album happen to have their feet tapping (‘Mumtaz Kahn’, ‘Shempi’), ‘LP3′ excels when it begins to reveal a more exclusive side of the band to the listener. Initially you expect opener ‘Shiller’ to explode at any moment but instead it’s covered in a thick, cinematic fog and even when the double-layered guitars step onto the scene, you’re far too carried away with the atmosphere that surrounds it all – it sets the standard for the rest of the record. A cleaner, more jaunty sound is released at the end of the album but even as the moody, eerie act regresses to give way for the more excitable ‘Gipsy Threat’ and ‘Black Heroes’, the likes of ‘Fylnn’ and ‘Imperials’ stay fresh in your mind because they expose a side of Ratatat that we’ve not yet witnessed- and it does the trick.
It’s near-impossible to pick out a weakness on the record. Sure, maybe the standard of songs isn’t anything overwhelming – nothing’s particularly perfect but when you look at the record as a whole-piece instead of analysing various single-tracks you discover a glorious realm of multiformity, consistency and sophistication. Ratatat have essentially matured and remain incomparable to any other act on the planet.
8.4
PLAY: Ratatat – Imperials
PLAY: Ratatat – Shiller
['LP3' is released on July 7th, Pre-order here]
MFM @ HYPEM
