"Eyes lit. I pawn short breaths. A fawn's dark eye lids. But life's breath like a sun against my head." Huh?! What did she just say? I'm not sure, but "Crimewave" is a really good track! It's off their first, full-length LP, Crystal Castles (2008). Boasting from Toronto, Canada, the duo, Ethan Kath and Alice Glass, have developed a reputation of catchy synth-beats and bubbles and dancey remixes of songs from other artists, such as Klaxons ("Atlantis to Interzone"), Liars ("It Fit When I Was A Kid") , and Bloc Party ("Hunting for Witches"). "Crimewave" was among their popular hits performed live at their June 12th Casbah show with mm/dd/yyyy and DJ Edgartronic. The June show was a replacement for the one that was canceled back in March (due to a car accident?). The show was sold out!

Crystal Castles - Photo by Macy J. Huynh
The Casbah was filled to the brim (even the Atari Lounge) with people patiently awaiting their performance. Thank you, DJ Edgartronic for entertaining us all with your electro-awesomeness for about thirty minutes until Crystal Castles finally came on stage! It was exactly 12am when they finally started their set. Immediately, the crowd was pulsating inward and outward like a single, breathing unit. Yes. It was indeed a mosh-pit. I wasn't expecting it, but I was game. However, I lasted about twenty minutes and decided to step out into the periphery. Here was where I could witness the hold that Alice has on the people! The whole time I kept wondering, "Where in the hell does this girl get the energy from?!" From "Air War" to "Alice Practice" to Klaxon's "Atlantis to Interzone", Alice was hopping around on stage (and on people) throughout the entire 45-minute set, while Ethan was working his magic on his multi-instrument-thingy. I get it, it was the Jager shots they took on stage! Short set, indeed, but climactic the whole way through. It's not a Crystal Castles show if there aren't any blinding and flashing white lights. Noise, dance-punk, electro, whatever, they're just fun to listen to.

Crystal Castles's summer tour includes Canada, Japan, and the UK. http://www.myspace.com/crystalcastles

All videos by Macy J. Huynh