John's New Music Blog

Today's featured band is Toronto, Ontario's Crystal Castles, an electo-pop two piece consisting of Ethan Kath and Alice Glass that has just started to receive airplay on US alternative radio. Their first single off their second album Crystal Castles (II), "Not in Love", is a cover of Canadian new wave hair band Platinum Blonde's one and only hit, but with one big difference: Robert Smith. Yes, the very same Robert Smith of The Cure. This is one of the few examples where the cover is vastly better than the original, but I'll let the listener judge for themselves.

The original version by Platinum Blonde

Here's a second song by Crystal Castles which is more representative of their electronic sound. This is "Celestica," also off the Crystal Castles II album.

Crystal Castles II is out now at iTunes and Amazon. They will be coming to Philadelphia on Tuesday, March 15 to play the TLA. Click here for tickets.