Over the course of the last two years Glass Candy changed their style to what they referred to literally since their earliest beginnings: death disco. But, to be honest, their first releases weren’t disco at all but ear battering girl punk that only recalled disco by the record’s aesthetic.
More than four years later, the Portland-based band has finally become what they always wanted to be: a glamorous pop band that isn’t afraid of punk’s dirt still smutting their suits. As Ida No howls, whispers and most prominently sings like Siouxie in their best days, producer Johnny Jewel kicks off his italo disco beats, so that the band’s output resembles to a spontaneous jam between the Banshees and Giorgio Moroder. Consequently Glass Candy covers Kraftwerk “computerlove”, which could be the blueprint for the whole album.
The other ca. 35 minutes No and Jewel go through the heights and depths of “live after sundown”. The starting track “beatific” surprises with the fuzzy, electroclashy beats and the glaring melodies. Heavy mid tempo bass lines are caressed by synthesized horn melodies (!) and an arrogating chant in “candy castle” or “rolling down the hills”. Imagine the band cruising in a cabriolet down muscle beach at sunset and you get the image of these two tracks. “life after sundown” is the album’s centre, which perfectly blends italo disco, minimal house beats and Ida No’s theatrical singing - a stand out song, which will shine at a live show as well as in a dj set on a sunday morning in the panorama bar. The mentioned Kraftwerk cover (which is very well done by the way) and the chilling “digital versicolor” round off the album. And finally we are perplexed about the mysterious yet fascinating vicissitude of Glass Candy.
[phillip]
www.myspace.com/glasscandy
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