Crystal Stilts

In Love with Oblivion

BY Brock ThiessenPublished Apr 12, 2011

When Crystal Stilts released their debut, Alight the Night, back in 2008, the Brooklynites were unfairly lumped in with the then-exploding crop of lo-fi indie pop acts. However, fans are unlikely to make the same mistake with the band's follow-up, In Love with Oblivion. For album number two, the Stilts have clearly emerged as a psychedelic rock band, plain and simple, trading any previous hints of punk, twee and C86 for a heady blend of spooked-out retro styles. That isn't to say they don't go pop (just see "Through the Floor"), but the fuzz and reverb have been dragged further down into the band's paisley underground, sounding more and more like the bastard child of the Velvet Underground and the Rain Parade. Track for track, In Love with Oblivion may be a stronger, more consistent effort than Alight the Night, but psych rock has a few more years on it in 2011, not to mention a whole new load of forward-thinkers, making this sort of vintage-minded retro rock safer and more familiar than ever. Still, if you're fine looking backwards instead of forwards to get your psych fix, In Love with Oblivion will do the trick, just don't spark this one up hoping for anything new.
(Slumberland)

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