Crystal Antlers - Tentacles (Album Review)

 

Crystal Antlers - Tentacles

(2009)


My copy: 2009 press by Touch And Go.


Tentacles is the debut record from Long Beach, CA’s Crystal Antlers in which the group blends elements of heavy garage-rock with synth-oriented psych. 

A repeated key arpeggio is affixed to “Painless Sleep” while high-speed drums and burning guitar tear the track asunder, only quieting briefly to lead into the synth-pop-meets-post-hardcore spasming of “Dust.” The core keyboard sounds are cheap and gaudy, but this is played into the music well, and aided by the mixing. The production is loose, drawing the garage-rock comparisons that can be especially heard in the rhythm section. 

“Time Erased” embraces indie-rock albeit splashed by a mess of colorful synths. Crystal Antlers have a penchant for working prog elements into shorter songs, with tracks like “Time Erased,” “Andrew” and “Glacier” all switching into a ¾ time signature and always changing back before the listener can get comfortable: the biggest issue with this that they loop the same transitions multiple times, and the structural formula that they seem to adhere to gets boring later in the album. 

The pained, shrieking vocals of Jonny Bell are like an emo kid having a bad acid trip: this isn’t necessarily bad, and actually contrasts against the bright organ melodies in an interesting way. “Vapor Trail” is a much needed step outside with bass and drums tip-toeing around a spiraling atmosphere. The titular “Tentacles” is a punchy, short tribute to the hard-rock bands of the 70s (Motorhead in the bass and Deep Purple in some of the keys) though twisted with blistering feedback and noise. Bell takes the yelling down a notch on “Until The Sun Dies (Part 1)” before the track pops back into high speed jamming. 

Things get corny when woodwind instrumentation and light-hearted “ooh-ing” makes its way into “Memorized.” “Your Spears” is a puzzling big-band or ska influenced prank that is only tolerable when the guitar is able to overpower the obnoxious woodwinds. “Swollen Sky” once again revels in walls of noise but does nothing new for the album. The seven-minute closer “Several Tongues” makes use of a technique that the rest of the album is almost completely lacking: patience. The finale slowly builds up steam with crackling synths and feedback that interlocks with each new instrument. Bell’s vocals eventually cry out but are drowned in delay allowing the drums and bass to crash the party and introduce dissonant tones. “Several Tongues” crescendos and then breaks into more of the same melodic progressions as the rest of the album; the first half was nice while it lasted. 

Tentacles is an album with a lot of cool ideas, but it feels as though Crystal Antlers were perhaps a bit too anxious to prove that they could get loud and punchy. If this record had slowed down and expanded on the organ-laden psychedelic aspect, there could have been more stand-out moments. “Painless Sleep” is still a fantastic mix of genres in spite of some stagnation later on other songs. 

Despite being the only pressing, this albums goes for very cheap online.


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