The Thousands

No, it’s not 2008. Obama did end up winning that election. Yes, Crystal Castles titled their second album eponymously as well. And yes, they did fill it with tunes a lot of people will hate. But is not just the newest entry into the loudness wars; rather a pretty damn superb follow-up that reflects the expanded palette of these two Ontarians.

Any meaning you get from Crystal Castles, you get from the evocative sonics. The tortured caterwauls of Alice Glass (bad pun about Glass-breaking, etc.) carry angst, but you can never really tell precisely what strain of it. So you search for meaning in the blistering ‘Doe Deer’, which evokes their work with LA noise-punks HEALTH, or the sparkling ‘Intimate’. Crystal Castles is not a clever record per se; it doesn’t aim for the head or the heart. Nor exactly does it mean to make you dance, unless you like brooding and being really serious while you do it. But it’s hypnotic, dark, and compelling. It makes you feel.