Rad Reviews: Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (III)

I realize this album was released two months ago, but I never got a touch to share my two cents on it.  The overall body of Crystal Castles' work has impressed me.  The first album combined modern electro with a touch of glitchy, and successfully added 8-bit sounds (something that in my opinion hadn't been successfully done before).  The second album kept it in the same vein, but with a more mass sensibility (...and less 8-bit).  The second album lacked the grittiness of songs like Alice Practice, and Air War.  It did, however try to bring us back with the hard-hitting song Baptism.  But in reality, I just want to hear Alice Glass, their lead, fucking screaming into a mic.  Is that so much to ask?

(III) doesn't even get close to the first album's influence from punk music and moves more towards the standard electronic/electro.  Look at the filler piece like Transgender as a prime example.  Unlike many bands who start with a more broad appealling album and move into their own experimental weirdness (see: Radiohead, the fucking Beatles, etc.), Crystal Castles is doing something else entirely.  They are trying to push more albums at a bigger audience.  They had a taste with Robert Smith's vocals on "Not in Love" off (II).

Unfortunately, this album probably isn't going to get them there.  It's not groundbreaking, and ,aside from "Wrath of God", it's all pretty one-note and uninspiring. "Sad Eyes" is alright, but it sits at a weird place between an anthem and a boring dance song.  Overall, it's the band's inability to highlight Alice's vocals in songs like these that is really holding them back.  They need to look at Robert Smith on "Not in Love" to see what worked.  Bring the vocals to the forefront, allow Alice to push the band forward.

For your listening pleasure, here's the first single off the album below:

Rating: 6/10