In the Blog

princess(es) of power*

April 10th, 2008     by Anna Leventhal     Comments

Very excited about Toronto’s Crystal Castles’ debut self-titled album - I was surprised to hear it was their first full-length release, since I’ve been hearing about this band for a while and nodding furiously along with various songs on their Myspace page. One reviewer described it (somewhat derisively) as “like being high on LSD and playing an old school video game”, a description with which I concur (but without the derision. Acid and Supermario, yeah). But it goes beyond gimmick - in particular, I like how they mostly reject standard song structures and, heck, lyrics in general, with singer Alice Glass warbling what sounds like a made-up language - much like some of my other favorite bands, Gang Gang Dance and Les Georges Leningrad.

Airwar is my top pick right now, and while there’s no official band video, the grab-bag that is YouTube has provided us with this fan video so we will have something to do with our eyes while we listen to the song. Hope you like ballroom dancing.

*apparently the band name is a reference to the home of She-Ra, the self-styled cartoon Princess of Power (were she and He-Man dating, or were they just friends?).

In other news, Montreal noise monsters Aids Wolf play tonight at La Sala Rossa, 4848 St. Laurent, with Black Feelings, Japanther, and Sightings. Be prepared for a serious blistering. I swear, sometimes I think singer Chloe Lum is channelling Yoko Ono. Video for Spit Tastes Like Metal after the cut.

Tags: picks from planet venus, playlist

« Female First Fiction Series in Ottawa!

Women in Radio event »