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!

—–

Guest post by the enthused Zuri Zurowski

—–

TRACKS:

Crystal Castles – Celestica

Electric Tickle Machine is the ideal indie band. Cut-off denim shorts, day glow shades, lo-fi mastering, wavey moustaches, frenetic energy, ironic lyrics, an album cover with a nipple on the cover…whoa…what!?Yes, a nipple… but a nice one. How serious can anyone take a first album with the blatant use of a nipple to grab your attention? I suppose it could be viewed as good marketing.

With the hilarious name/exposed mammary one would expect a group of sarcastic misfits informing us not to eat the yellow snow a la Zappa or Ween. But surprise surprise, these unsigned Brooklynites have crafted a mixed bag of rollicking genre-spanning tunes on their first entry: ‘Blew It Again‘. This album is a legitimate contender for one of the top 10 rookie albums of the past year (if I had actually reviewed it when it came out 5 months ago). Their fusion of garage, fuzzed-out scapes and psychedelia, sing/shout vocal progression, acoustic strumming, and always dependable hand claps keeps you on your toes and has you craving for more before immediately shifting to another style altogether.

The undeniably catchy “Part of Me” ironically chimes “everyday we get a little more invisible, no heads are turning when we’re walking down 1st Avenue, buy a puppy it will make you more presentable, buy a dollar for a whisper a man on the moon… part of me dies when you’re not around, part of me comes to life when you’re not around“. the best love songs offer glimpses into the artist’s psyche without beating you over the head with sentimental crap. “Gimme Money“, shouts “Gimme Money… I see something that I want, its nice and shiny shiny shiny… I’ll be a good boy and not lose my new toy, i want to feel strong like every other boy“.

It’s Iggy Pop fronting the Clinic with a deadpan delivery of being owed something grand by society. The entire album is streaming on their website, check it out.

——

Guest post from Adam, aka CougArt CouGarfunkel.

——

TRACKS:

Electric Tickle Machine – Gimme Money

Buy the whole album, Nipple cover included, here