Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles

In the two years since Crystal Castles’ impressive-but-flawed self-titled debut, things haven’t exactly gone swimmingly for the Toronto duo. Between criticism of their live shows, a few onstage meltdowns and an almost complete refusal to talk to the press, you could be forgiven for thinking this was the beginning of the end. But, in characteristically unpredictable fashion, the pair have pulled out all the stops to deliver a remarkable follow-up, the similarly self titled Crystal Castles.
Without completely abandoning the 8-bit electronica template of their debut, Ethan Kath and Alice Glass have expanded their horizons and created a much deeper, more diverse sound. This diversity is perfectly encapsulated by a run of three songs that really raise the bar in the album’s opening half: any sceptics will surely mellow as the dreamy electronica of lead single ‘Celestica’ gives way to distorted bass-heavy thumper ‘Doe Deer’, before things really come to life on epic raver ‘Baptism’. Glass’s vocals are used to great effect throughout, serving as both counterpoint and counterpart to Kath’s edgy synths. The greater range of sounds on show allows for Glass to expand and experiment with her voice; like everything else here, her range is increased, producing surprisingly melodic results on the likes of ‘Suffocation’ and the aforementioned ‘Celestica’. Elsewhere, she does loud and abrasive on ‘Baptism’ and ‘Pap Smear’, and distorted and rhythmic on ‘Vietnam’, one of the album's standout tracks.
This is not a perfect album by any means: it is bookended by arguably the two weakest tracks, and, to be fair, they could have made more of an effort with the album title. Minor grumblings aside, though, Crystal Castles represents a great leap forward for the duo. Over the past few years numerous electro acts have been heralded in a blaze of glory by an eager, trend-obsessed blogosphere, before being pushed out the side exit to relative obscurity. On this evidence, Crystal Castles should manage to avoid such a fate. More than that, Kath and Glass have made their difficult second album look easy, and the end result is both a fulfilment of early promise and as good an electronic album as you’re likely to hear all year.