Line Out - Comments on Frightened Rabbit, Crystal Castles

Comment by infrequent

infrequent — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:03:27 -0800

what do you mean, their moment has already come and gone? is that to say you think a second album won't be released... or that a second album will suck... or that their brand of music is over... or that if they didn't "make it" opening for NIN they won't make it otherwise? or what?

also: I predict this band will break up before ever making it to our corner of the States, and that will be a shame. they made it this far! maybe they'll make it a little further...

Comment by infrequent

infrequent — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:03:47 -0800

also: I predict this band will break up before ever making it to our corner of the States, and that will be a shame. they made it this far! maybe they'll make it a little further...

Comment by Fletcher

Fletcher — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:14:37 -0800

Yeah, what the hell was that last night anyway? I was in the front area for a bit and the kids just wanted to either mosh and push, or jump up and down. If you wanted to actually dance, you had to move towards the back, which I had no quarrels with since it seemed like everyone there was in a positive mood. Good times.

Comment by Eric Grandy

Eric Grandy — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:18:28 -0800

@1 (and 2): I just mean that going into last night's show, I was feeling like, yeah, their brand of aggressive, chip-tune influenced electro had perhaps already peaked, and that their debut hadn't stuck with me as much as I thought it would. But maybe I'm just too fickle; plenty of people are obviously still way, way into this band.

Also: I figure if I don't make bold, uninformed claims in print now I'll have nothing worth regretting come 2008.

Comment by infrequent

infrequent — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:29:43 -0800

ha!

electronic music is weird. chiptunes have been around for a while... and though we see flourishes of them by some popular artists, there are finally acts accepted by the liberal elite media as hip: crystal castles, dan deacon, etc...

i'm not sure how much life is left in the 8bit scene, but it seems to be still peaking at this point. electronic music comes and goes quickly, but there are always those who hang on...

last night at neumos we saw CC really treated like a rock band by the fans. it's fun, but i was surprised there wasn't more dancing. still, it was much easier to enjoy their set as a spectator (not dancing), then say, Justice.

Comment by tongue

tongue — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:29:52 -0800

What bothers me so much about Castles is that out of all the chip tune artists that could have had a "break out" they are the least talented, catchy, original or even cool. seriously, check out some other chip tune artists and Castles will blanche in comparison.

Comment by infrequent

infrequent — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:35:58 -0800

that's often the way it works. others lay the foundation and a "less talented" group gets the glory.

still, CC were able to present the music in a way that's palatable to their peers... it's not all 8bit, it has lyrics, they perform like punks, wear leather and skinny jeans... these things make a difference.

Comment by hi2u

hi2u — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:41:48 -0800

Great Lymbyc Systym write-up!

Comment by Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:42:28 -0800

That show was fun. I'm not sure it merits this much deep thought.

Real or fake, they put on a great show and that's what I was there for.

Why no music at their merch table? T-shirts only? It would seem obvious that if you are playing sold out shows on a Tuesday night you might have some singles or CDs for sale.

Weird.

Comment by Eric Grandy

Eric Grandy — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:49:36 -0800

I'm not sure it merits this much deep thought.

Oh, I know. I'm just still really amused by yesterday's hilarious "real"/"fake" conversation, and I wanted to squeeze a little more fun out of it.

Both great shows. And @8, I missed most of Lymbic System watching Frightened Rabbit. Next time, I'll be both places at once.

Comment by Jarvis

Jarvis — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:42:37 -0800

Chip-tune stealing accusations proved to be over-exagerated, CC didn't use any stolen chip-tune on their album, only early unreleased songs:
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/51349-crystal-castles-respond-to-chip-music-controversy

Stealing from a visual artist was also over-exagerated. The artist simply didn't get along with the band's ex-manager. The artist gets along with the new manager:
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/145843-crystal-castles-artist-settle-madonna-image-dispute

Pitchfork doesn't have any answers on the band's longevity though. Time will tell.

Comment by not impressed

not impressed — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:32:35 -0800

I like a handful of tracks on Crystal Castles' debut, so I checked out the show last night. Alive Glass' performance was one of the most disturbingly unnatural things I have ever seen, and I have seen some quite disturbing unnatural things (I do ride public transportation, afterall). The show ended with her twitching her way into the crowd on hands and knees, which was composed of 14 year olds learning how to smoke cigarettes, and were so teenagerperezhiltonamericanappareled starved they swalloed her into themselves (as they had become one black entity), then raised her up above them. They were all sillouhetted against a red velvet curtain in the background, and all i saw were flailing limbs, and an emaciated coke goddess being worshipped. With strobe lights. It was one of the most hellish shows I have ever been to. And I don't mean in a good way.

Comment by douglas martin

douglas martin — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 02:41:54 -0800

http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/2008/09/frightened-rabbit-tour-uk-with-death-cab-for-cutie/

if ringing endorsements from already-pretty-massive bands are any indication, frightened rabbit will be huge sooner rather than later.

Comment by Eric Grandy

Eric Grandy — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 10:47:07 -0800

Death Cab For Who Now? Yeah, I suppose that endorsement will go a long ways towards their success. Good for them.

Comment by puh-lease

puh-lease — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:17:36 -0800

@11, Ummmmm...i wouldn't look to pitchfork for journalistic integrity. All of the quotes to "prove" CC didn't steal anything or weren't in the wrong were from...Crystal Castles. Well, I guess that is that! I'm sorry, but you don't get accusations so earlier in a musical career without doing something shady.

Comment by Jarvis

Jarvis — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 13:39:42 -0800

Using samples in your private home recordings isn't that "shady". We are talking about home recordings that were done 4 years before the band's first album.

Comment by puh-leaze

puh-leaze — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:28:21 -0800

@16, no, that's what CC claims. did you read the article? you can go to the chip tune site and their version of events is much different. they don't particularly care for CC.

Comment by Jarvis

Jarvis — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:43:14 -0800

It's not a claim, it's a fact, Insecticon is not released anywhere. Lies Records put it on the Lies Records Myspace page without the proper song title. Kids have ripped the track to mp3 under various different titles. Bitter Hearts, Chess Mess, and Insecticon are all the same unreleased track which in the Pitchfork article we learn is actually called Insectica (vs Lo-bat).

Comment by chunba

chunba — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 22:20:15 -0800

cc put on good show. they aren't the most original artists out there. eric g. get someone to edit your turds.

Comment by EpLORI

EpLORI — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:35:54 -0800

Best part of the Crystal Castles show was Lymbyc Systym. Most "real" band I've seen in a long time.