Candy Claws - Two Airships / Exploder Falls Review

SWAN DIVING OFF ANGEL FALLS

Candy Claws' career trajectory is bizarre, and one I don't truly understand. They're known far and wide for 2013's Ceres & Calypso; a balderdash of euphoric, fairy tale noise. Despite achieving breakout status, they called it quits, reemerging a few years later as Sound Of Ceres, a band that - despite featuring a similar aesthetic palate, one that's inspired a trove of modern Neo-Psychedelia artists - has failed to garner even a fraction of the attention. And then there's the curveball; Two Airships / Exploder Falls. An experimental template, not only for Candy Claws, but wall-of-sound enthusiasts looking for a reason to return to the genre without entirely committing to Shoegaze. Given its year of release, 2008, one can't begin to describe how forward-thinking the lobit onslaught is. This was at a time when Neo-Psychedelia was in a lurch, caught between the dividing line of Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev, Tame Impala and MGMT. Only Animal Collective existed to bridge the gap, and though the parallels can somewhat be felt, Two Airships off-the-wall insanity, irreverent design, and abusive relationship with electronics puts Candy Claws' debut in a class of its own. A cult necessity for those infatuated with Glitch, Hyperpop, or, more recently, HexD.

At a brisk 30 minutes, paced beautifully through two behemoths, Two Airships exists to implode from the inside out. Featuring an array of saturated colors, like a rainbow cascading down a waterfall, Candy Claws' instantaneous blitzkrieg never lets off the gas. Purposefully grotesque, their intent was clear: Find beauty in the extreme. Details swarm garage guitars, tuned beyond conventional reason, as punctured IDM drum kits face a wall of surreal compression. It is so gruff, so insistent, so bold. If released today, it would've achieved the same stunned reaction, and that's with the plethora of dense Glitch Pop at our disposal, found littering amateur Bandcamp profiles. Two Airships is an album not fit for description, as its impact lies solely in the experience. Despite the lengthy excursions, one feels time pass with irresistible facility. Like a summer vacation, there's so much luster to consume, as days blend together like the photo album left in its wake. One memory after the next after the next, appreciated in bite-sized intervals, bliss the only emotion in sight. It's bound to feel weightless, to even feel forgettable, like the wearing down of impotence after each sugar rush.

Preference lies on 'Two Airships' over 'Exploder Falls,' due in large part to the bombastic gravity, looping with increasing intensity. By comparison, 'Exploder Falls' feels less constructed and more abrasive. The noise overwhelms on the second cut, infused with pockets of harsh 8-bit glitch, much akin to Sweet Trip's Velocity : Design : Comfort if the duo were to abandon all pretense for amenity. Still, one can't exist without the other, as they tackle bewildering fables hand in hand. As an added element, Candy Claws declared Two Airships an alternate soundtrack to Werner Herzog's White Diamond documentary. While I haven't seen the film, I can only imagine the parallels to flight and rich, natural beauty. The names evoke this. 'Two Airships' soars with the grace of a murmuration, while 'Exploder Falls' embellishes the dissonant clash found at the base of a waterfall. These aesthetics, naturally given their harsh surroundings, play perfectly into Candy Claws' style. And what a style it is.