Crystal Stilts
'Alight of Night'
Joy Division nursery rhymes for sleepwalking on the beach.
Brooklyn's Crystal Stilts filter trembling surf guitar and tambourine shakes through echoing chambers of effects until their wistful, barely-there tunes seem to dramatically float out of murky, cavernous depths. The eerie centerpiece is singer Brad Hargett's off-key mumble, which glides through buoyant anthems ("Prismatic Room," "Shattered Shine") and tranquil musings ("The City in the Sea"). But after about 20 minutes of Hargett's repetitive drone, the effect is less charming than grating, making you wish for Auto-Tune's trickle-down into indie-rock production.
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