Glass Candy

Every so often I will give a general summary of a band I have been following and with whom I have fallen in love. The first such overview is of Glass Candy, a quirky, chameleon-like project formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1996 and consisting of Vancouver, Washington singer Ida No and producer Jimmy Jewel, of Austin. I first discovered the duo in 2008 during my perennial search for well-written, more song-like alternatives to the inane repetitiveness and abrasiveness of late '90s house and trance and their twenty-first century derivatives, which still seemed to dominate the mainstream dance music scene. Their work is available through Italians Do It Better, a fine New Jersey label which releases records by other exciting, Italo-disco-influenced outfits such as Chromatics, Desire, Farah, Mirage, and Professor Genius.

While the band's earlier releases feature such rough-hewn stompers as Excite Bike, their later endeavours include such sumptuous romps as Poison or Remedy and Miss Broadway, a splendid cover of the '70s disco hit by Belle Epoque. Rather like Blondie, Dead Or Alive, and other new wave artists who probably constitute their chief source of inspiration, Glass Candy have evolved from their raw, dissonant (yet somehow concentrated and alarming) punk roots into a glamorous, alluring carnival of melodic disco. At times the band even venture into hip hop territory, as with the irresistibly funky Geto Boys, while they show off their skill in penning ethereal Italo-disco anthems with the haunting, otherworldly gambol of Life After Sundown. Meanwhile, No's soft but whispery vocals careen seductively (if at times off-key) over the rich, scintillating textures of Jimmy Jewel's gorgeous orchestration. To double the pleasure, simply see the band in concert and marvel at No's writhing, serpentine dance moves juxtaposed with Jewel's dynamic assault on the keyboards.

It is refreshing finally to discover music which simultaneously boasts clever lyrics, elegant arrangements, and dance-friendly spiritedness--classically structured, well-written dance songs which do not require drug use to be enjoyed. Both Glass Candy's earlier dance-punk and later disco incarnations please the listener since both boast appealing chords, arpeggios, notes, and so on (while remaining bizarre and twisted), but it is a pleasure to follow an artist growing out of its chaotic roots into a refined and luxurious creature.



Image ©2009 John Londono