Artist: Crystal Grenade
Album: “Lo! And Behold”
Label: Gonzo Media Group
I first met Carol Hodge, aka Crystal Grenade, when she was singing on Steve Ignorant’s “Last Supper” tour. I was immediately taken by her vocal range, stage intensity and ability to handle difficult avant-punk material. Following up, I discovered her past bands, which included an industrial trio and a tongue in cheek BDSM party band.
Her current solo release,“Lo! And Behold”, is none of that. The album is a haunting immersion into an abandoned Victorian dance hall…or bordello…or bedoir…and the phantasms trapped in each. Hodge takes on the character of Crystal Grenade, freak show chanteuse (or is it medium/seer?), delivering 11 songs of darkness and dismay, mostly accompanied only by her piano. The feeling throughout is incredibly close and atmospheric – it almost seems as if we are partaking in a psychic channeling in an abandoned farmhouse as the outside world falls away.
The album opens with “Welcome to the Freakshow”, a :52 soundscape of carnival barkers, carousel piano and crowd noise. It is a throwback to another era – the 1960s concept album, the theatrics of 1970s progressive rock – a minute to set the mood for what is to come. The track immediately segues into “You Could Have Lived”, a track that structurally sounds like the initial idea for a glam song. You can almost hear Ian Hunter saying “ooh, I can do something with that one, I can!” and, indeed, with a full arrangement this song would soar. But Crystal Grenade is not about to let any birds fly. Oh no. And simply clipping wings won’t do – they must be snapped like twigs. Hence “1892 Man”, a heart wrenching tale of spousal abuse. The music hall style implies a sadistic mocking, carried to further extremes by Crystal’s almost schizophrenic vocal delivery that careens between Plain Jane narrative to May West sultriness to feral anger that bespeaks of the psychic wounds that accompany physical bruises.
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE AT GONZO
 | Lo! And Behold CD - £9.99 |
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