Acclaimed Belfast electro-post-punks Chalk have finally dropped the curtain on their eagerly anticipated debut full-length record.
Brimming with an immense, intense atmosphere that one can only imagine will be hard to harness in a live setting – not that you’d want to. ‘Crystalpunk’ is a welcome blow to the face from start to finish, nine punchy floorfillers with their influences worn freely – yet crafted so personally and with such a unique feel that ‘Crystalpunk’ becomes its own umbrella genre under which the brand of electronic punk music that runs throughout can fit. This record is Crystalpunk by name and by nature – so much so that it has become its own entity.
Loud and unnerving from the jump via its opener, ‘Tongue’ – a short and not-so-sweet storm of sheer noise and chaos – the duo had no interest in easing anybody into the world of ‘Crystalpunk’.
The singles that began the era, ‘Pain’ and ‘Can’t Feel It’, are a pair of heavy-hitters alone. The former is gritty and cold with a pumping beat, equipped with massive synths, making for a dark, mind-shattering sound. The latter track is similarly impressive. Chant-along vocals, a mind-bogglingly danceable beat – and the lead-up, and that drop. Not everyone can say they’ve made one of the finest electronic tracks of the decade this early on in their debut album.
‘Longer’ was and is more than a single worthy. A vast change from the, admittedly spooky, party at the end of ‘Can’t Feel It’ – the band labelled it their “most unadulterated and unfiltered rock song”. Distorted, emotional and musically mammoth – ‘Longer’ is a grungy, original track that is brilliant until those drums drop, and then it becomes quite the behemoth.
Perhaps the biggest, not the longest, rave on the record – ‘One-Nine-Eight-Zero’ is the greatest example of the pair’s shared love of the mosh pit and the rave. Adventurous, experimental and autotuned to the nines – this is a dance track, a track to move to – and you will. Showcased via their recent KEXP performance, this left-field effort slots perfectly into an already superb live set.
After a short break to calm down as ‘Eclipse’ bridges from banger to banger, ‘Skem’ barely starts slow, but it sure does blow. You’re eased in, as far as a CHALK song goes, before you’re taken on the wildest ride of a lifetime. I lied; this is the biggest rave of the album. Chaos, a little break to remember ‘Eclipse’, and then more unfiltered, unadulterated, joyous chaos. No words, no auto-tuned sing-alongs, just a blisteringly beautiful, engulfing wall of sound – as the duo showcase their talent and their versatility.
On their third single, ‘I.D.C.’, CHALK showcase their sound. The sound that makes the duo and the sound that forms ‘Crystalpunk’ are what they are. Ferocious, frantic, autotuned electro-punk, dark, chaotic, repetitive electronica, techno, in-your-face beats – CHALK. And “I don’t care, man / I got love” is the coolest thing to shout over that noise.
The penultimate stop on the ride is ‘Béal Feirste’ – the aforementioned longest rave. “We’re standing shoulder to shoulder” echoes around and around and over and over as that beat keeps on pumping in unison. Soaring past the eight-minute mark, this track is an epic – paying homage to their identity, upbringing and life in the North of Ireland.
Now you could end your album on a ten-minute banger, but when you’ve got an ace, or an ‘Ache’, up your sleeve – it is wise to play it. We’re brought to a close by ‘Ache’. We’re played out by a wall of synths with breathy, haunting sung and spoken vocals and a piercing repetitive guitar line.
‘Crystalpunk’ is for the rave. It is for the pit. It is for the punks. It is for you. CHALK have refined their sound and defined their genre, all whilst, in doing so, defying genre.
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