Thrill Jockey has long been one of my favorite record labels. At the very least, I’m willing to sample their goods whenever they come along – and so far in 2010 they haven’t disappointed. Mi Ami’s Steal Yr Face has been my favorite slab ‘o wax and it looks like they’ve uncovered another gem with Chicago trio Lazer Crystal.
The name might sound a little too new-agey, and their manifesto definitely makes you wonder how many tapestries are in their practice space:
Lazer Crystal believes that we as humans are at the extreme promontory of the centuries. The human race has reached the moment where we must open the mysterious shutters of the impossible to seek the unknown. We are moving beyond Time and Space toward the absolute, since we have discovered eternal, omnipresent speed.
Still, they don’t totally fail in all their ambitiousness. “Love Rhombus” and “Bad Indian,” are infectious, fuzzed out dance-floor burners that sound like they were plucked from deep space by Russian satellites. If its all a little too dark, too goth, they clearly don’t mean for it to be that way. It’s supposed to be cosmic, dude, and if they can deliver on their promise to make their tour “a multi-colored, polyphonic surf of sound and vision, set to the ritual nocturnal vibrations of its arsenal, to be played as an offering of respite,” then one million spacebucks to these fine gentleman, and the wizards at Thrill Jockey.
Lazer Crystal live at The Empty Bottle from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.