Galaxy Down is the debut album from the Montreal-based bedroom pop outfit, The Craytes. Available now from Flagless Records, Galaxy Down is a cathartic garage-pop dance party of acoustic guitar strums, body-moving drum beats, entrancing synths, and laid-back vocals.
The album begins with “Tangled Hair”, which is not the only hair-related tune on the record. A jumble of percussive loops and bloops underpins the track that is layered over with featherlight guitar picking and increasingly more bells and small rhythmic accompaniment. The track feels like a dreamlike dance scene.
This theme of movement is further established with the standout track “A Very Good Dancer”. A lumbering bassline, pitter-patter drums, and strummed acoustic guitar are accented by horns to make a perfect soundtrack for the loving embrace of a slow dance. This vibe is continued with “Restless Hair” and instrumental “Downbeat”. Grab someone you love and sway away.
Another standout track, the dreamy, rhythmic “Differently” is narrated by an octave vocal harmony that swoons over a church organ, acoustic guitar, piano arpeggios, and a Wall of Sound snare drum that builds into a lovely mesmerizing coda.
We are then treated to a pair of songs with an architectural lean in “Scaffolding the Monument” and “Spiral Stairs”. The former has a lovely catchy chorus and playful piano notes. The latter is one of the album’s “heaviest” with a muffled, distorted guitar over which the melody is crooned over the waltz of guitar waves that wash over everything. The ending track “Eventually” gives us a nice palate cleanser and lets us know the party is over, but we are welcome to revisit it any time. Galaxy Down is available digitally from Flagless Records.
Written by John Brouk
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