Erase Errata At Crystal Palace CD

Erase Errata's second album, At Crystal Palace, continues the band's ongoing flirtations with order and chaos, ping-ponging between the two with such ease that it's clear that even their most disjointed moments are under their control. Songs such as "Driving Test" and "Go to Sleep" are as angular and tense as ever -- the way Jenny Hoyston snarls "Go to sleep!" on the latter ensures a string of nights spent with eyes wide open -- but every now and then the band lets down its avant-garde and allows some melodic, and even poppy, moments to exist within its formidably sharp music. "Ca. Viewing" is one of Erase Errata's most accessible songs, at once prickly and playful. Meanwhile, "Let's Be Active c/o Club Hott" and "Surprize It's Easter" are both slightly more melodic than their earlier work; Hoyston's vocals come closer to honest-to-goodness singing than they have before, even though both songs feature strange breakdowns where most bands would put choruses. Hoyston's paranoid, soulful wailing on "Matter No Medley" marks a further expansion of the band's sound; she remains one of the most distinctive voices in underground rock, androgynous and fiercely powerful without resorting to histrionics, particularly on "Owls" and "Retreat! The Most Familiar." Hoyston's trumpet also makes a few more appearances on At Crystal Palace than it did on Other Animals, but the most musically remarkable thing about the album may be the heavy basslines that drive it. Even more so than on their previous work, here Erase Errata's music is about a groove, even if their version of a groove is closer to a zigzag. The mechanical sexuality of "Ease On Over" lies in large part to a frenetic but kinetic bottom end; ditto the danceable politics of "A Thief Detests the Criminal, Elements of the Ruling Class." If possible, At Crystal Palace feels even more urgent than Erase Errata's debut. Most of the time this is to their benefit -- witness the breathless intensity of the spiky, minute-long "Harvester" -- but occasionally, the pace feels rushed and fewer songs stand out as a result. Still, At Crystal Palace's compressed complexity makes it a more consistent album, as well as proof that the band shows no signs of slowing down or mellowing out anytime soon. ~ Heather Phares

Erase Errata: Jenny Hoysten (vocals, trumpet); Sara Jaffe (guitar); Ellie Erickson (bass guitar); Bianca Sparta (drums); Maya (unknown instrument).

Recording information: Tiny Telephone (01/2003).

Rolling Stone (11/13/03, p.99) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...The group splays funk and punk chords over the frenetic jazz-damaged bass lines of Ellie Erickson and salty tootling of singer Jenny Hoyston's trumpet..."
Spin (01/04, p.103) - "...Bassist Ellie Erickson is all pulse and glue. Guitarist Sara Jaffe's riffs flicker and spark, lead and rhythm melting into the same urge..."
Magnet (2/04, pp.97-8) - "There's more spirit in these songs than the band managed the first time out, and each snarl and kick hits with an almost physical intensity."
CMJ (10/6/03, p.5) - "...Erase Errata couldn't be more penetrating unless they played their instruments with hunting knives....A direct inheritor of a particularly virulent strain of early-early-'80s post-punk..."