good for your HEALTH

Last night's Crystal Castles/HEALTH show at Chicago's Abbey Pub was an excursion into insanity.
HEALTH, a noise rock band from Los Angeles, scorched the stage with a cathartic blend of shapeless vocals, distorted guitars and frantic rhythms. Jacob Duzsik and Jupiter Keyes, HEALTH's two guitarists, thrashed across the stage, striking -- not strumming -- their guitars as if being exorcised by some unearthly priest. John Famiglietti used his bass guitar and an electronic drum pad to produce malformed sounds that fused with the glorious chaos. BJ Miller attacked his drums with such wicked force that I was stunned his set survived the band's entire performance. Keyes and Famiglietti occasionally smashed a spare floor tom, producing tribal-like rhythms. The sound ejaculated by HEALTH was not music. It was not noise. It was the ceremonial sound of a tortured savior's crucifixion and angry resurrection.
Crystal Castles, the night's main event, have been dubbed "the most exciting and original band in the world" by the UK's Loud & Quiet. If that opinion is true, the future of music won't be about creativity and inspiration but packaging and presentation. Crystal Castles are an electro/punk/dance duo from Toronto. Alice Glass (vocals) and Ethan Kath (keyboards and programming) incorporate a drummer for their live performances -- and three strobe lights that flicker throughout the show. There is no denying Alice's stage presence: she straddles strobe lights, writhes on the stage, climbs things and stage dives. She is the master of her domain and impossible to ignore. A magnet of adoration.
However, behind the walls of the Castles are kings and queens who praise repetitive music void of emotion. But as long as the court jester is blanketed by flashing strobe lights and thrives on a pulsating beat, the music is background. A prop that's easily ignored.

Pitchforkmedia.com Photos: Crystal Castles / HEALTH [Chicago, IL; 02/27/08]

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