Alight of Night

Crystal Stilts' "Alight of Night" sounds like a bunch of moody twenty-somethings who went into a garage and recorded their rendition of a Jesus and Mary Chain album, which to a large degree is the case. This is not a carbon copy however, and the low-fi, garage rock sound is something all its own, worthy of repeat listens. Borrowing from the new wave ambience of despair created by Joy Division and shoegaze influences such as Jesus and Mary Chain, Crystal Stilts create their own brand of overcast gloom. The vocals sound murky and far away, but they become a part of the overall sound, and rather than take prominence become another instrument in the low-fi proceedings.

All the songs have a certain lingering, meandering quality while still possessing groove and energy. They seem to flow into one another, creating the feeling of being lost in a dream, in that half-asleep, half-awake place we tend to go to sometimes when our minds tend to drift to faraway places. The album isn't entirely a smash hit. Some songs, particularly toward the end tend to drag a bit, and the dreamy quality the album has built up seems to taper out of the wistful feeling it has created into a sense of awareness that the album is still going on, and perhaps should have ended several songs ago.

Being the group's debut album, it allows for some leeway and hope for improvements on the next release, though this album is a very decent listen and provides hope for even better things to come.