CMJ: Day Three

Crystal Castles at Webster Hall

Recap:
More of today’s time may have been spent at record stores than venues, but I did catch a handful of choice acts. First was an afternoon show at the SoHo Apple store with Swedish psych-turned-jazz-rock outfit Dungen. I swung by Piano’s after for a short set by Sebastien Grainger, then whisked over to Webster Hall for a full set being headlined by Crystal Castles with supporters Lymbyc Systym, WhoMadeWho, and Fujiya & Miyagi (yes, again).

Highlight:
It’s a close tie between Dungen and Crystal Castles. Dungen may have played a better set and performed more cohesively as a band (the intimate setting also added quite a bit to the show), while Crystal Castles disregarded any notion commonly associated with a ‘band’ and simply went for an all-out sensory overload experiment, and for their originality I commend them. The show was drastically different than their album in that it goes from a passive listening experience to something that’s aggressive, in-your-face, and ultimately scary yet enjoyable. In fact, I imagine their stage presence is more similar to a 70’s Suicide show than any other current ‘electro-rock’ outfit. I say ‘their’ but the true star of the stage was Alice Glass. While Ethan turns his back to the audience, focusing on his synths and laptops, Alice performs all out spastic seizures on stage, shrieking indecipherable lyrics into her mic, and tossing her body into the crowd at least half a dozen times (I lost count). I asked Ethan before the show why he didn’t have any albums available at the merch booth, and his reply was, “We’re disorganized. We forgot. Just download it.” I respect that attitude toward art, although it makes me want to spend the money all the more.

An honorable mention goes out to Lymbyc System, who play ‘epic’ instrumental post-rock not unlike Mogwai. While I personally believe post-rock has more or less played itself out as far as genuine creativity is concerned, I must hand it to this duo for putting on an engaging show. Also, Fujiya & Miyagi were great once again, although they did appear somewhat more tired than their last performance. With the onslaught that is this week, I honestly can’t blame them.


Left to Right: Dungen, Fujiya & Miyagi, Crystal Castles