Reviews

In Love With Oblivion – Crystal Stilts

Label: Fortuna Pop!

An American noise pop band. I know what you’re thinking: these guys are just another in a long line of acts who want to have all the impact of the Velvet Underground but have none of the tunes, so what do they do? They throw together a jumble of vaguely familiar hooks, lather it in reverb, squeeze it threw a filter or two and set it against a background of jarring feedback and interminable drones. Sprinkle it with psychedelia, leave it in the fridge for half an hour and serve cold. And whilst there’s an element of that, that would disqualify some of the best things to have survived the 1980s: Jesus and the Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, the Pixies – all were guilty m’lud, but not necessarily invalid. Success rates here are a tad uneven, the exception being the boisterous and well carbonated ‘Half A Moon’ – a Joe Meek pop-explosion for the vampire generation and ‘Precarious Stair’ which combines the wiggle of Jayne Mansfield with the all the terrific tremelo of The Raveonettes and an Ian Curtis seizure.

‘In Love With Oblivion’ by Crystal Stilts – channelling another era with much the same enthusiasm as a Living TV Clairvoyant but no less satisfying for it.

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Release: Crystal Stilts - In Love With Oblivion
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Released: 25 April 2012