Aram's Full Review: Love Love Love by Glass Candy & The Shattered Thea...
I like old buildings. Not just old though, but decrepit and preferably abandoned as well. I like to walk in and around them, just looking. There is something endlessly fascinating about anything that looks as if it might fall apart at any moment.
Perhaps this is why I am so drawn to Glass Candy, sometimes known as Glass Candy & the Shattered Theatre. They do the whole rock group without a bassist thing popularized by the White Stripes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but where the Whites cause such a commotion you don't miss the bass and the YYY's benefit from overdubs and the definite talent of their guitarist, the Glass Candy sound is genuinely rough, raw, almost hollow, but full of potential energy. To fully appreciate what I mean by that, go find your copy of Bleach by Nirvana and listen to it, all the while pretending you've never heard "Smells Like Teen Spirit."
Sure it's a mess, but can you hear the potential there? Can you hear that even though they're basically a bunch of kids thrashing around, they have the ability, the energy and the singular love of what they're doing to go on and do something truly great? Because that's what I hear when I listen to Love Love Love by Glass Candy.
Context, context, context. Hailing from Portland Oregon, Glass Candy quickly gained attention from their blistering live performances, notably the stage presence of gorgeous lead singer Ida No. The band released a handful of EP's and CD-R's, all the while going through more drummers than Spinal Tap. Signed to Troubleman, the lineup for this, their debut album is Ida No, Johnny Jewel on guitar and Ginger Peach on drums.
The basic format for the disc is uncluttered production, with no one musical element taking center stage in the mix. Ginger's drumming is of the apocalyptic style, with no urge to hit the crash cymbal held back. Johnny's guitar is all proto-metal muscle, though he thankfully pays homage to everyone who did it before him, rather than imitates them. Ida No has a great and truly genuine energy in her delivery, which makes me wonder why anyone felt in necessary to saturate her vocals all the reverb that they're in, making it appear sometimes as if she were leading the band from the Grand Canyon, while they played via satellite from some bar back home.
This is a minor quip though, when compared to just how good the whole thing sounds. "Crystal Migrane," the first song on the disc manages in just over two minutes to build to a terrific climax. "The Last Time" is built around an amazing riff that recalls the Ramones at their peak and a beat that could almost be considered hardcore if only it were more irritating. Ida No is in top form as well, scream-singing like she absolutely means it.
While I could go on to summarize "Love Love Love," "Nite Nurses" and "Empty V" I'd just be repeating myself. The only thing I'll add is that these guys play very uncomplicated, very raw, very dirty music. If you lean more towards Radio 4 than the Black Dice or the 1985, you may not be as infatuated with Glass Candy as I am. However, if you like the actual music of the early '80s no wave movement as opposed to just their clothes, I say check 'em out.
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