In the world of independent music, it is impossible to approach a new release without first tacking a subgenre onto it. Death-twee, Yanomami-core and Portuguese fado-metal instantly spring to mind. However, as the audience at DC9 is sure to witness on April 1, Brooklyn quintet Crystal Beaches delivers a low-fidelity aesthetic that has yet to be defined by a subgenre.
It is difficult to pinpoint from which decade Crystal Beaches’ grungy, plaid-enshrouded sound hails, but the waves of guitar fuzz on the band’s new release “Farinaceous Formaldehyde” deliver a welcome breath of skuzzy, stale air. In 2011’s bleak indie scene dominated by post-Limp Bizkit nu-metal, Crystal Beaches are garage rock’s only hope.
Crystal Beaches’ turbulent history is even more exciting than its minimalist-themed Tumblr. Lead singer Bundick Chaz belonged to the Children of God cult as a child and was homeless for most of his teenage years. He eventually crossed paths with the other four members of the band, who had all met at Nebraska Wesleyan University. Crystal Beaches was formed after Chaz responded to the guys’ Craigslist ad for a mediocre Elvis Costello-sounding vocalist, and the band made a fateful decision to relocate to Brooklyn, despite the borough’s significant lack of an indie rock community.
Crystal Beaches was quickly discovered by Grizzly Bear bassist/producer Chris Taylor and signed to his Terrible Records label. The band preceded to release a split 7’’ with label mate Henry Clay Aiken, both purveying the same sort of bland glo-horrorcore that fans have come to expect from Taylor. However, the quintet was unceremoniously kicked off the label after Chaz was found to be responsible for a series of drunken tweets that mocked Grizzly Bear’s Volkswagen commercial.
After a brief yet tragic stint at Fat Possum where Crystal Beaches’ drummer was brutally decapitated by Nathan Williams, the band sold their guitars and bought turntables, looking to cash in on the post-2009, Nintendo-crust metal trend. However, internal disputes over the band’s vintage JX 3P Roland synthesizer and Bundick Chaz’s bath salts addiction drove Crystal Beaches apart.
For a few months, the members of the band pursued their own side projects, which included synth-grime duo Cr(yst)al Beach(e)s and chillrave collective Ira Glass. Neither project gained the necessary baseline Pitchfork rating of 7.4 to be taken seriously, so Crystal Beaches was forced to reunite with Chaz, who had been living in a Williamsburg subway station, to record its quadruple LP, rap-rock opera “Pizzashevsky Circle.” “Pizzashevsky” was hailed as genius by no less than 11 major blogs, and after hit single “It’s Chill, Brostoyevsky” appeared in a Reese’s Cups advertisement, the band signed to Captured Tracks.
Needing a change of scenery, the band members relocated to rural Quebec to record “Formaldehyde” in their personal cathedral. The band returned to the States following the release of “Formaldehyde” for a tour of the nation’s blue states.
Crystal Beaches play DC9 on Friday, accompanied by Mongolian thrash trio Alfred Drey-fuzz and Cults. Don’t miss this night full of DC’s hippest twenty-somethings folding their arms and moving as little as possible while gazing glassy-eyed at the smoke machine.
