BY RON HART

 

For a lifelong New Yorker, the ever-changing landscape of our precious city over the past decade in the name of gentrification is enough to make you wanna drink yourself silly outside the former location of the recently shuttered Mars Bar down on the Bowery before staggering over to Ludlow to pass out beside the vacated shell where Max Fish once stood. Just looking through the listings section of the Village Voice is enough to give you vertigo with the onslaught of new clubs, pubs, restaurants and concert halls popping up all over the place, as establishments those of us from the area have spent many years frequenting continue to disappear before our very eyes with each passing month.

 

But while the faces of Brooklyn and Manhattan continue to receive a continuous, controversial side-by-side makeover that serves as some yuppie's idea of progress on a seemingly weekly basis, it is great to know that the Metro area still manages to be epitomized by some of the finest, most forward-thinking bands in America today, a tradition that is as old as the storied history of rock 'n' roll itself. And representing the very best of the new breed of talent currently making waves across the Five Boroughs is Crystal Stilts, whose arrival onto the NYC music scene five years ago after migrating up Interstate 95 from South Florida was crucial in its late '00s revival following the post-Strokes era. The group's unique sound, a scholarly blend of gothic art pop culled from Spacemen 3 mindfuck jams, Paisley Underground jangle and the finest moments of their record label, Slumberland Records, hits a fever pitch on their second full-length, In Love With Oblivion, the group's most exploratory and realized album to date - and one of the finest releases of the still-young 2011 thus far.

 

BLURT recently had the opportunity to have a digital chat with founding members Brad Hargett and JB Townsend about the creation of their long-awaited follow-up to 2008's Alight The Night, the present state of NYC, their interpretation of the word "oblivion" in the context of recent world events and, of course, vinyl, among a host of other topics.
 

 

In Love With Oblivion is available at finer record shops near you for less than ten bucks. It is strongly suggested you pick up a hard copy of it, if anything for the outstanding, Carl Sagan-esque cover art. (For more information on the band, check out their official website.)