Crystal Antlers — Tentacles

This Long Beach, Calif. act are just one of a trio of buzz bands floating around with "Crystal" in their name (Castles and Stilts being the other two), but they're early contenders to be the only one we may care about in five years.

Though the six-piece have Bay-area roots, their music is firmly rooted in the Michigan school of The Stooges and MC5 garage rock-meets-Motown soul and R&B. Tentacles' raw abandon was committed to tape in a week.

While Crystal Antlers have forged an eclectic and original hybrid sound, they don't seem to know what to do with it. The record spans 13 short and punchy tracks, but it's a task to differentiate one from another. A little more focus on songwriting might have produced the song needed to go to the next level.

Hopefully Crystal Antlers can focus their rowdy brand of indie soul for their next album because, deep down, these guys have a masterpiece waiting to be written.

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