A few days after a cult TV show announces its return with David Lynch and Mark Frost bringing new life to Twin Peaks, another cult phenomenon involving the concept of two is gone. Crystal Castles are no longer together as Alice Glass publicly announced she was leaving the project via both Twitter and Facebook. This duo, made up of Glass and Ethan Kath, have been going at it for ten years now. Seeing that Glass has left, maybe Kath will try to find a replacement for her and Crystal Castles will go on. Maybe not, and maybe he shouldn’t at all. Crystal Castles started when Kath spotted Glass performing with a punk band Fetus Fatale and instantly knew she was the right person to accompany some instrumental tracks he had made. Crystal Castles was meant to be from the very beginning, and continuing the project may not fit together like marijuana and pop rocks quite like this pairing did with another vocalist. Despite Kath being a major contribution to the project, Glass’s inclusion was no laughing matter, as she handled the lyrics and a lot of the songwriting. With Glass now wanting to start a solo career and stating that this departure is both professional and personal, this seems like the very end of the road for Crystal Castles.
Hopefully this Toronto team of crime fighters will return in the near future much like Death From Above 1979 will. Maybe this possible feud will resolve quickly. Suppose they never do work together again, and Glass’s and Kath’s separate ways are successful in their own right. Those of us who were a part of this drug infused ride have been a part of something special this entire time, and there was truly something innovative about this combination of dance and death. From the start, they have been a cult band with an immense following. There were their interviews where they discussed the need to hang out with Helen Keller and their love of Norwegian black metal in one sitting. There was the time Glass broke her leg and her cast became a signature part of her look because of her refusal to let it heal completely (I remember the show I attended in 2011, where she jumped into the crowd, crutches and all). For a while, Kath’s face was mostly cloaked and borderline unrecognizable so even he was a force to be reckoned with. For christ’s sake, our Capsule Podcast opens virtually every episode with a Crystal Castles song (Good Time, although these aren’t such happy moments). Fortunately, we had a last chance to cover their show at the Kool Haus.
Crystal Castles were something different and breathtaking, and not just for us Toronto natives. Worldwide, people were tuned in to see this grimy friendship be both a frightening new look at rock n roll and a moving sea of emotions. Their albums, all self titled (and numbered I-III by us fans) would attack us just as quickly as they held us. There was no correct singular response to their music. There weren’t any rules. Neither Kath nor Glass ever gave a fuck, and that’s why such a break up is shocking: This is the first sign of them actually caring outside of making quality music.
Like Twin Peaks, Crystal Castles were as straightforward as they were border shattering. They put a spin on something we otherwise knew. As I rewatch the series for a third time in anticipation for the 2016 return, I realize that something as eerie, unsettling and becoming as this show has just ended this morning. When I think of my favorite Canadian artists, I’ll quickly name artists like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Arcade Fire and other obvious picks. I’ll also name Crystal Castles just as immediately. Yes, they may be new and their era so short that they cannot compare with the legacies of the aforementioned artists. However, you could already tell something was truly magical with this duo. They seem like the kind of musicians that will withstand the test of time because of how refreshing each listen of their best material is. With some of the best material of this decade so far, it’s sad to know that it’s most likely the only material we will get from them (possibly ever). We still have five years to go!
Nonetheless, it is time to focus on the music they made and how these songs embodied the entities of rock n’ roll, rave parties and psychological meanderings. With whatever paths Alice Glass and Ethan Kath take, they will both most likely remain an integral part of their fan bases’ lives. They taught us to rebel and to fight. They reminded us that it’s okay to be vulnerable. Labels didn’t matter, and not screaming out of agony could possibly be more devastating than opening up. Here are the ten best songs that Crystal Castles have ever made, and the journey between madness and understanding will thus begin accordingly.
10. Suffocation
There’s an undeniable beat in this song, and I say that because not every Crystal Castles’ song is as instantly catchy as this song is. Glass’s shoegaze vocals are so subdued that they get purposefully swallowed up by the thick drum track. If they didn’t, they surely would be engulfed by the tidal wave of noise that follows her claims. She murmurs that she is suffocating, and there is nothing we can do to aid someone so helpless. The most uncomfortable moment is how the party keeps going when this voice wishes for death. She refuses to be saved, so the music won’t even try to bring her back to life. If that isn’t chilling, you needn’t to worry because we’ve barely even started.
9. Vanished
This is the kind of track that mimics the sensation of a drunk night out. We get a sampled song (Van She’s Sex City) and we hear the vocal tracks get distorted out of their own comfort zone. The music, some of the most straight forward in Crystal Castle’s discography, drags these voices along without letting go. It’s a night on the town that only feels unsafe because of the people driving us around, but we quickly learn that these cats are alright. It’s a modern nu wave club hit without any surprise turns down dark alleys. Even the most intense of people know how to have some universal fun!
8. Not in Love ft. Robert Smith
Ah, yes. Let’s not forget their biggest success. This Platinum Blonde cover was featured on their album with a slightly altered sound and no Robert Smith on vocal duty. Somewhere and somehow, there was this single mix that surfaced and caught the world by storm. Clearly Smith saw something in either the band or the song’s potential, because you don’t just attract the vocalist of The Cure any day of the week. When you cover a song and then edit that cover by including a veteran rock singer, the result isn’t a loused mess. The song works after so many artistic minds have touched upon it, because it feels like many people have been touched by heartbreak. The music tries to sympathize, but it ends up feeling robotic and artificial much like most responses will when all feels so damn depressing.
7. Affection
Here is a great example of Glass’s poetry. She discusses the death of a moth by her own doing and her refusal to give up on what she wants to do. She dismisses those that came before her, possibly because they don’t approve of her life choices. She finds comfort in a menagerie: A fake animal kingdom. As long as a world is provided for her, she can find solace. She finishes the song by saying “we drown in pneumonia, not rivers and streams”. We lose life by our own doing, not by what life has provided us. The pretty music to supply such an empowered piece (one of the many on their ghostly third album). It’s the music that keeps one going, and it makes the separation between identity and legacy so tragic and yet so right.
6. Courtship Dating
On their first album, Crystal Castles dabbled more within the realms of dance music than they did with heavier sounds (which they would do more so on their latter two albums). With a few exceptions on their debut, Courtship Dating was a perfect blend of the two styles and would end up being the signature sound they would be known for throughout their discography. The music is funky and addictive and the vocals seem happy, too. This must be a good time! However, the lyrics are pretty gruesome as there are themes of domestic violence and claustrophobia. She says her loved one’s grin makes her feel sick when she asks “how do I feel for thee?”; She needn’t count the ways, as one pure example will suffice. She claims that they “fell in from the stars”, so it is fate that is keeping them together and this silly idea of fate alone. On the surface, this is a giddy relationship, but it is truly terrifying if you really listen closely.
5. Doe Deer
Once in a full moon (I know what I said), Crystal Castles will truly become demonic and will go full punk. On their debut, this short burst of hell was Xxzxcuzx Me (the song almost finished by the time I figured out how to write this song name). On their last album, this quick leap into a fire pit was the bass-corroded Insulin. Their finest example of a triad of terror is Doe Deer, which for many was the first sneak peak of their second album. This entire war that lasts under two minutes is as infectious as sars, and it’s result is a similar epidemic outbreak. The only lyrics (death ray) are screamed as the world frantically disperses. This is a calamity so loud that it’ll distort on any sound system. It’s pure diabolical horror straight out of a 1950’s horror b-picture, and it’s oddly given the most innocent name in their catalogue. Yet why does this painful misery sound so damn good? I’ll enjoy this on repeat forevermore; It doesn’t matter who is caught in the crossfire.
4. Mercenary
This cold song is caught in its own little world. It exists simply with a track played backwards (it’s actually Sad Eyes, from the same album, in reverse; a trick Ethan Kath has done before). Is this song running away from something? Glass’s vocals remain still and frozen while everything else sounds like it’s in motion. This is the calm before the storm. You’re locked in place amidst an apocalyptic war and there’s virtually nothing you can do. That’s when the barrage takes place two thirds of the way in. It’s so abrupt and affective that it’s the game changer. It’s what you remember the song for. This monstrous ambush will keep you coming back. You’ll read the writing on the wall every time and yet you still want to experience that sudden infliction of pain over and over again. It’s the final moments of a dystopia either succumbing to its despotic leader or being overthrown by an angered society. Whoever wins is irrelevant: The fight for freedom, as scary as it is, is so glorious to witness.
3. Alice Practice
Here is the very first listen many of us had of Crystal Castles back a number of years ago. Maybe you heard it on the UK version of Skins. It could have been Pitchfork’s focus on the track that drew your attention to it. Wherever your outlet was, you couldn’t ignore this sudden encounter. What sounds a bit like a Pokémon battle gone glitch crazy (someone’s let out Missingno again) is actually an electronic anthem people have been glued to for a very long time now. The aptly named song is actually a secret taping of Glass getting ready to record with Kath for what may have been their first time working together in the studio (one of the first times, anyways). Like Van Halen’s Eruption but with the dance crowd invested and not the guitar players of the world, this rehearsal ended up being a classic for the band when Kath decided to use it as a final take despite Glass not knowing that she was being recorded at that point. Alice Practice is a nice name, because it’s also the entry point many of us had with the band. Did this strike your fancy? Good, because a lot more stuff just like it was on it’s way!
2. Wrath of God
With what is my choice for the best Crystal Castles song that’s actually expected (hang tight, we’re almost at the bizarre choice for my number one pick), we have Wrath of God. When David Guetta’s (only good) song Titanium was similarly cutting in and out of it’s melody with its titanic bass on the radio waves, Wrath of God did a similar pummeling of itself within the wintertime of 2012. This frigid song didn’t try to encourage optimism like Titanium did, but both songs did discuss self worth. Titanium showed the refusal to break down in typical fashion, and Wrath of God screamed at you realistically (“they’ll strip you of your heritage”). Whether you attach this song to religion, politics, the media or any other organization, the point remains that you are losing your identity. There is no standing up for yourself: It’s already begun. This damnation of a song is so powerful in its construction and in its message. How one song can be so sad, so angry and so catchy is why it’s so memorable. It’s a song too raw to be played on the radio, but it’s definitely the song that the masses truly deserves. It’s one of the most stirring songs I’ve heard in recent years.
1. I Am Made of Chalk
I feel the need to explain. Plague isn’t the number one spot, and neither is Celestica. Where’s Baptism? While these are all honourable mentions, I’d like to refer back to the last line in the previous entry. Wrath of God is one of the most stirring songs I’ve heard this decade so far. I Am Made of Chalk is the most stirring song I’ve heard this decade so far. While it isn’t the best song of the first five years of this era, it’s without question in my top picks. This is the finest example of the true capabilities Crystal Castles had at crystal clear emotions in music. It’s abstract and alienating at first, but when it is given a chance, I Am Made of Chalk is a crushing tribulation. An urban myth tied to this song states that it may be about a story in the news where a mother drowned her child in Toronto. If that’s the case, and it certainly seems to be, you can actually hear cries for help underneath the depths of sound (with actual yells for one’s “mom” being able to be picked out). If this song has nothing to do with that case, it’s still in it’s final moments of life.
To close an album whose cover bears a child in a graveyard, you need an appropriate send off. With I Am Made of Chalk’s fragility (is the song made of chalk because it’s easy to snap or because it’s the outline of a dead corpse), you can attach any story you want to it and still stare mortality in its face. It may not be the most punk song Crystal Castles made, but it’s definitely their most rock n’ roll. They challenged themselves to cope with what one’s final moments on earth may truly feel like, and not only are its intentions worthy of note, its result is one of the most emotional musical experiences of the past few years, making it not just Crystal Castle’s best track, but one of the best songs of this decade so far.
