Pitchfork

Photos by Matthew Taplinger

Toronto's Crystal Castles transformed Chicago's Abbey into a bona fide arcade rave last night, punctuating pretty much every blip, bleep, and fuzzy bass throb with a strobe light that flickered nearly non-stop through their set. Rather than nauseate, this tactic further invigorated the already hyperactive crowd, who packed the small club on a Wednesday night despite Castles' lack of a proper album at the moment. That changes March 18, when Last Gang Records finally unleashes the duo's self-titled debut.

Los Angeles' HEALTH, meanwhile, served up balls-out, primordial blasts of noise and ruckus, aplomb being their defining feature. All this catharsis was at its best when tempered with slight psychedelic tendencies, redolent of, say, Liars' Drum's Not Dead.

Crystal Castles and HEALTH bring the fury to Minneapolis next, and continue sharing their respective brands of danceable audio carnage well into spring.

UPDATE: Check out this clip from the British teen soap opera "Skins", featuring Crystal Castles performing "Alice Practice" during a very, very melodramatic scene. It's weird.

CRYSTAL CASTLES






HEALTH









CRYSTAL CASTLES










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Crystal Castles and HEALTH:

02-28 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Social Club
02-29 Winnipeg, Manitoba - Pyramid Cabaret
03-01 Regina, Saskatchewan - The Exchange
03-02 Calgary, Alberta - The Warehouse
03-03 Edmonton, Alberta - The Starlite Room
03-05 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards
03-06 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
03-07 Portland, OR - Backspace
03-08 San Francisco, CA - The Independent
03-09 Los Angeles, CA - The Roxy Theatre
03-10 San Diego, CA - Casbah
03-11 Phoenix, AZ - The Rhythm Room
03-12 Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad
03-16 Denton, TX - Hailey's
03-17 Springfield, MO - Randy Bacon Studio & Gallery
03-19 DeKalb, IL - The House Cafe
03-20 Oberlin, OH - Dionysus Disco
03-21 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop
03-22 Philadelphia, PA - Transit
03-23 Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
03-24 Annandale-on-Hudson, NY - Bard College
03-25 Brooklyn, NY - Studio B
03-26 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
03-27 Montreal, Quebec - Musée Juste Pour Rire
03-28 Toronto, Ontario - Circa
05-13 Brussels, Belgium - Les Nuits Botanique *

* with Yelle

Crystal Castles:

03-12-15 Austin, TX - SXSW
05-14 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
05-15-17 Brighton, England - Great Escape Festival
05-23-25 Cumbria, England - Forgotten Valley Festival
05-25 Northamptonshire, England - Gatecrasher Summer Sound System
05-23-26 Newcastle, England - Evolution Festival
09-05-07 Isle of Wight, England - Bestival

HEALTH:

03-14 Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa (Village Voice SXSW party)
03-14 Austin, TX - The Side Bar (Nail/Fanatic SXSW party)
03-14 Austin, TX - Flamingo Cantina (Lovepump/Panache SXSW showcase)
03-15 Austin, TX - Austin Convention Center (SXSW)
03-15 Austin, TX - Volume (Paste/Stereogum SXSW party)
03-15 Austin, TX - Mrs. Bea's (Todd P SXSW party)
03-29 Rochester, NY - Bug Jar
03-30 Purchase, NY - SUNY Purchase
04-02 Providence, RI - AS220
04-03 Philadelphia, PA - Danger Danger Gallery $
04-04 Washington, DC - Velvet Lounge
04-05 Baltimore, MD - Talking Head Club ^
04-06 Richmond, VA - The Camel
04-07 Raleigh, NC - Downtown Events Center
04-08 Columbia, SC - 112 Huger St.
04-09 Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn
04-10 Birmingham, AL - Bottletree
04-11 Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon
04-12 Houston, TX - The Mink
04-13 Austin, TX - Emo's
04-15 Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves
04-16 Lubbock, TX - Bash Riprocks
04-18 Phoenix, AZ - Trunk Space #
04-20 Los Angeles, CA - The Smell !
04-25 Troy, NY - Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center
05-29-31 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Sound Festival
08-06-09 Oslo, Norway - Øya Festival

$ with Pony Pants
^ with Ponytail, Videohippos, Ecstatic Sunshine
# with Treasure Mammal
! with Pre