Cougar Microbes

Postponed due to Icelandic volcano activity, fans were put on tenterhooks in anticipation of the Crystal Castles‘ live appearance at London‘s Heaven on 19th June. And their fans are very die-hard, to put it mildly, piling up as close to the stage as possible two hours before the set began as if waiting for the messiah.

The MESSIAH crawled on stage on all fours with a savage expression on her face; part woman, part beast, part machine. Disciplined by the stern beats of ‘Fainting Spells‘, the opener from the Castles‘ self-titled second album, the creature arose to euphoric applause and started to thrash about like a harpooned shark. It was Alice Glass, the humanoid CC singer – would she dive into the crowd despite plenty of frictions with bouncers and broken up gigs in the past?

It’s fair to say that Alice spent more time crowd surfing than she did on stage. The crowd were grateful, passing her around and holding her up like the female Iggy Pop incarnation that she was. Producer and synth player Ethan Kath is the glue that prevents it all from falling apart, motionlessly hunching over his synthesisers and exercising a somewhat sinister authority over the proceedings.

Crystal Castles might play a dance based, retro-futuristic 8 bit version of noise music, but make no mistake: this is a hard-boiled punk band through and through. Coupled with their epilepsy-inducing lightshow, the manner in which they thrash through material such as the mighty ‘Crimewave‘ or the more Ladytronesque ‘Celestica‘ is of such intensity this author can only imagine it’s like a Stooges gig circa 1970.

Ultimately, Alice Glass‘s not-of-this-earth stage persona is a wonderful testimony to the power of human expression. Catch them live if you can!

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Guest post by the enthused Zuri Zurowski

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TRACKS:

Crystal Castles – Celestica

I hastily cancelled  any plans I had for Tuesday 16th as soon as i found out WHY? Were rollong into town yet again. Regular readers of this blog will know the band have been featured on these pages more than a fair few times.

The band had been outstanding the first time I saw them back in November 2008 when frontman Yoni Wolf boldly announced that Barack Obama would win the American elections, some 5 hours before the whole voting shindig had even kicked off. As far as first concert experiences go this was a special show.

Their next London performance at the Garage was a step up in venue size,though perhaps not in sound quality. In spite of this the band reaffirmed how how well their repertoire translates to the live setting. Songs from the yet to be released ‘Eskimo Snow’ begun trickling into the setlist and the band, with the help of their trusty soundman Snake, made good work or a slightly shoddy sound system on the night.

This show at Heaven is further proof that the californian gang’s popularity is steadily growing. This is made comically clear when I spot a tout outside of the venue trying to sell an overpriced ticket to the bemused members of the band as they walk by. But is this appreciation deserved?

As the band shuffle on to the stage I am reminded of just what makes WHY? so special. Opening with one of my personal favourites, ”The Hollows“, the band deliver a burst of energy right from the onset, fully exploiting the addition of Mark Erickson on bass and, in particular, Andrew Broder on guitar to beef up their live lineup.

The added ‘oomph‘ of being a five-piece for this tour means that song structures and instrumentals segments are beautifully embellished.  Yet again it has to be said that soundman Snake does a super job in recreating many of the production tricks from the bands last few albums.

Yoni Wolf appears liberated by the reduction of percussive duties, namely the lack of his habbitual snare drum and xylophone set up. Instead he is free to strut and gesticulate around the stage and in his own oddball way pays homage to his hip-hop roots. The frontman is flanked by the “classic” WHY? lineup consisting of his amazingly skilled brother Josiah on drums and the equally talented Doug McDiarmid on keys and guitars.

Naturally tracks from Eskimo Snow feature heavily and are expanded into new territories and delivered with renewed energy . However, there is plenty of room for the the many highlights from ‘Alopecia‘ with “The Vowels Pt. 2“, the aforementioned ”The Hollows” and “These Few Presidents“ recieving memorable renditions and sparking mass crowd sing alongs. There is something both eerie and beautiful about a room full of people shouting “even though i haven’t seen you in years, yours is a funeral i’d fly to from anywhere” in unison.

After returning for a brilliant encore and some hilarious karate kicks courtesy of Yoni there is one last treat in stock for this audience. Taking advantage of the presence of Andrew Broder on stage the band deliver an incredible rendition of Hymie’s Basement‘s “21st Century Pop Song” that exceeds even the recorded version of the track, right down to the broken up dual vocals at the end.

WHY? are a band that has constantly evolved over the space of each release whilst simultaneously succeeding in the hard task of remaining fresh and exciting. On the live stage these qualities are delivered with true personality allowing for each melody to be accentuated and magnified for maximum effect. Without fail the band has always delivered memorable performances and as long as their live show doesn’t suffer I see no harm in the venue sizes growing more.

TRACKS:

Hymie’s Basement -21st Century Pop Song

WHY? – On Rose Walk, Insomniac