Crystal Antlers: "Tentacles" album review

It's become obvious recently that "Crystal" is the new "Deer" which was the new "Wolf" as far as indie band names are concerned.  

The latest in the long line of Crystal bands is Long Beach's Crystal Antlers.  After making some ripples with their debut EP last year, the band returns with a full length, Tentacles, April 7th.

Combining post-rock with classic garage rock sound and production, Crystal Antlers sound as though they could be the bastard love child of Animal Collective and The Black Lips.

Unlike Animal Collective, it's the guitars on songs like "Vapor Trails" that build the atmospheric drone rather than the electronics.  Don't get me wrong, keyboards are present and play a key role in many of the tracks.  However, they often tend to get lost amidst the lo-fi production.

Adding to the din, which appears to be recorded on as few tracks as sonically possible, are the yelping vocals.  Sometimes appearing atop the mix, sometimes buried deep within it, they serve as more of a distractions than a crucial piece of the experimental music pie.

I have to give credit to Crystal Antlers for their enthusiasm in exploring sound, however, one can't help but sense that there is more to Crystal Antlers than we get on Tentacles.  They really are betrayed by the wafer thin production value.

Crystal Antlers have a couple of Canadian dates coming up:

• Vancouver, April 21st, Commodore Ballroom
• Toronto, May 8th, The Horseshoe

Best tracks: "Your Spears", "Time Erased"

Track listing for Tentacles:

• Painless Sleep
• Dust
• Time Erased
• Andrew- MP3
• Vapor Trail
• Tentacles
• Until the Sun Dies Pt. 1
• Memorized
• Glacier
• Foot of the Mountain
• Your Spears
• Swollen Sky
• Several Tongues

5.0/10

Crystal Antlers' Myspace