Crystal Antlers Artist Review

Hailing from Long Beach, California, ‘Crystal Antlers' are an Indie band with a distinctively shadowy undertone. A blend of punk and rock give the band an earthy sound, at the same time their tendency towards indie style vocals gives them some catchy choruses.
Signed by Touch and Go Records in August 2008, ‘Crystal Antlers' are now one of their massive 98 signings who are trying to get a name for themselves globally. The bands almost soulful approach seems to embody the location where their sound was crafted. Just thinking of California conjures up images of idyllic American summer scenes, and ‘Crystal
Antlers' song ‘A Thousand Eyes' from the forthcoming debut album ‘Tentacles' (07/04/09) does just this.
The song begins rather sulkily with a dark sounded distorted guitar, leading into the raw stock verse which is somewhat uninspiring. The verse carries a nostalgic sound reminiscent of the UK band Last of the Shadow Puppets, a regular beat with virtual room to the max for the vocals gives it an almost live ‘big hall' feel. This could be a criticism of the song, as its unpolished sound does occasionally give it an amateurish feel. But the band have a professional touch and great imagination, it is merely the recording which tarnishes their product. This nostalgia could be the consequence of the bands choice to use an organ and woodwind in their music, it gives the song an organic feel, as does the tremolo picking of the vintage sounding guitars.
Jonny Bell's vocal style is fairly unique, it has a rich grainy quality to it, not too dissimilar to that of Dave McCabe from The Zutons. But Bell also reaches some particularly high notes in ‘A Thousand Eyes' which can help in identifying his individual style. The bridge of the song is fairly lengthy. The calming piano tunes become slightly tedious, and the heavily distorted haunting sounds of the guitar (which I'm sure will become their trademark sound) continues throughout. The backing vocals reaffirm the slightly darker side of this otherwise catchy sunlit track, the mysterious hollering really gives the song a final air of obscurity.
Crystal Antlers have got real potential to make it big, especially in the UK market which seems to suit their sound perfectly. In a time where Indie and rock bands are tending to look back to the past for inspiration, Crystal Antlers melancholy tones seem almost a revival of the big sounds of years past. The Band are currently undertaking a tour of Europe before returning to the US in March.

Avenue61 is a leading indie music site that specialises in breaking new bands and providing alternative music reviews.