Crystal Antlers: Tentacles

Crystal Antlers 2008 EP (Strange Glue review here) was a mini-work of chaotic art which displayed heaps of talent and promise from a new band yet to release a debut album.

A good few months later and that exact debut LP is here in the form of Tentacles. A whirlwind of questions flew through our collective head: would it stay in the same vein as the EP?  In addition to this, would it attempt something fresh and inventive?

Tentacles is something indescribable. No really, it is (we're not just being lazy with the applied adjectives). In many ways it sounds exactly the same as the EP (though not one track has been incorporated into this LP) but there’s something entirely different going on at the same time. Some twisted form of melody has crept its way inside the sonic insanity and somehow, it works.

It sounds as if the vocals were recorded underwater a hundred years ago on a phonautograph before being ported to a gramophone, and yet they perfectly compliment the instruments behind. The record writhes and spits aggressively and then soothes and hypnotises in a profound, lo-fi manner, all while simultaneously rocking out as well.

It stands at forty minutes in total and stays within the same musical landscape for the entire duration. You’ve never visited this type of landscape before so the worry of repetition is lost in an instant. The entire project could be just one single, intensely unique song and it would sound just as fresh as it does split into thirteen.

Andrew bounces along like something from The Walkmen (the vocal swagger in particular) and shows the band at one of their many creative peaks. What’s so impressive about the music is how high it aims creatively: continually succeeding in its trajectory. Within a split-second you could be thrown from a comfortable percussion/guitar section into a storm of fuzz and vocal squeals before being shoved into a hyper-kinetic crescendo of percussion-smashing insanity which somehow incorporates twisting key’s into the mix flawlessly. It’s like each track is trying to keep the listener as breathless as possible for the entire duration.

Your Spears encapsulates what the band do best, mixing both their intensity and their ability to sound reserved. What comes out the other end is a rather loud but brilliantly crafted slice of music which gallops faster than a horse on steroids but breaks its pace flawlessly for the vague chorus it posseses. The guitar work and drum power on here is enough to raise any music-lovers eyebrows.

From the melancholic vocals and subtle rhythm of Swollen Sky to the intense urgency of introductory and instrumental track Painless Sleep, it all seems to slot so comfortably inside the sound that the band have created for themselves. It's almost obligatory that the listener presses play and let the record take them wherever it demands. Sure it can get loud, abrasive and fuzzy as hell; it can sound noisier than a jet engine, but that’s all part of the fun. Trust us when we say it’s worth it once you get over the initial shock-factor.

The enjoyment of Tentacles comes mostly from its ability to sound so utterly scattered and almost spontaneous, yet stay grounded and technical at the same time. That’s a talent that any band would struggle with and to see it here, on a debut album from a band that formed in 2006, is endearing, impressive and wildly entertaining.

If this is anything to go by, we can safely say Crystal Antlers are name not to be forgotten.