Review Summary: The nostalgic yet hazy drug induced memories of parties past.
The Brooklyn quartet, Crystal Stilts, must have gotten together with one goal in mind: create an album that once was pop but ultimately strayed too far from reality as it drunkenly wandered about.
”In Love With Oblivion” is indeed pop at heart yet, as the album name implies, it is hopelessly drawn to destructive tendencies. The instrumentals are simple and accessible, as are the vocals, but the overall sound is washed and faded. For as much as the album is upbeat and optimistic, it is equally dark and distant.
The most obvious influence is that of 60's psychedelia; Swirling organs paired with the Jim Morrison baritone vocals sketch a vague silhouette of The Doors. Of course this immediate image is overshadowed by the lo-fi Velvet Underground charm that flows through the album like heroin through the vein of a junkie.
”In Love With Oblivion” is very much like an addict. It is constantly in a haze, floating aimlessly amongst the world; a hollow shell of its former self. As much truth the album name holds, we still cannot escape its infectious charm. The tattered punk fabric is sewn seamlessly into acid tripped vocals, intoxicating us with the distant mindset of Crystal Stilts. This drugged out picture is most vividly illustrated by the track “Alien Rivers”. Nonsensical lyrics slowly form into monotony as the cyclical instrumentation drifts off into the drunken memories of years past.
With that memory just beyond reach,
”In Love With Oblivion” needs one more hit to grasp it. One more drop of acid, one more swig of whiskey, one more heroin binge to finally re-live the better days. As ominous and brooding it appears, glimpses of the past are laced throughout. Though the album is too f
ucked up to coherently formulate a sentence, the heart is still there. As lead singer Brad Hargett sings
“she follows me into the sea, and I wanna know why” we ponder with him, oblivious to the fact that we just followed him too. Despite being a train wreck of a pop album,
”In Love With Oblivion” is everything we could ask for out of a noise-pop, garage rock concoction.
