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Single Reviews
Single review: Crystal Stilts – Shake The Shackles (Fortuna Pop!)
By CMU Editorial | Published on Monday 20 June 2011
Chiming with album title ‘In Love With Oblivion’, ‘Shake The Shackles’ takes a liltingly detached, otherworldly stance. A frenetic opening is fuelled by fear; while tempered vocals and a jangling guitar hook provide an uneasy, brilliant loucheness that somehow manages to create a sound as chilling as it is hopeful.
Echoing, droning and psychedelic, this is pop nonchalance at its finest – though clearly drawing on psychedelia, this is a far cry from blind pastiche. Gloom-ridden vocals have the nonchalance of a half smoked cigarette, burning and penetrating and infusing the air with the sort of studied cool you can’t, well, study.
Dusky yet modern; droning yet visceral, Crystal Stilts have moved their ever-haunting aesthetic into the realm of pop with stunning results. EG
