((CSTVT)) Band Profile and Upcoming Chicago Concerts - Oh My Rockness

Written by Patrick McNamara

This band profile written in 2015 A.D. is a personal mea culpa of sorts. Why write about Cstvt for the first time now? Look, everyone has good bands slip through the cracks of their listening habits. For me, Chicago’s Cstvt (formerly known as Castavet but I guess there’s some NYC black metal band called that) is one of those bands. They released a really good album wayyyyy back in 2009 called “Summer Fences” and I never heard it until recently. To be more specific, I’d never even heard of the band at all until last week. How did this happen? No idea. I must have just had my head up my ass. Tell me not my faults - for I already know them.

But here’s the thing about good bands. It’s never too late to get into one. I missed the boat on Cstvt but the ship has not yet sailed. We have the World Wide Intrasphere to thank for that. I’m INTO Cstvt and I’m making up for lost time, playing “Summer Fences” approximately 35 times (give or take) since I first discovered it existed last…. Wednesday, I think it was.

These four dudes (Nick + Will + Ron + Josh) make (made? - not sure they’re even still a band - my research tells me they have been quiet the last year since they played in Chicago with Japan math heroes, toe.) some of the very best shimmering, noodle-y twinkle emo punk I’ve heard. And I was in Chicago for Round 1 circa 1995/6/7/8 when American Football and Ghosts and Vodka and ilium (now THAT’S a reference) were doing something similar, so that’s saying something, I think. Of course, none of those bands had Nick’s vocal growls. Two out of three of the bands I just mentioned didn’t have vocals at all. It's the floating guitars meets the ferocious growls that make Cstvt great. It's all about the contrast. You can't have those pretty sunsets without those clouds, tho.

Interestingly enough, I have been so behind the times with Cstvt that they even released another full-length after “Summer Fences.” That one’s called “The Echo & The Light” (2010) and I have only listened to that one approximately 17 times (give or take) since discovering THAT existed last…. well, I think that was Saturday.

Maybe I shouldn’t even be writing this profile. Usually they are reserved for brand new bands. But it’s a good thing this is my music blob and I can do whatever the fuck I want. Therefore, this has been a new review of a really good old band (what was 2009 even LIKE, mannn?) called Cstvt. Fans who have been loving this band for years can now laugh at me, and peeps similar to me can now get into the goodness you somehow impossibly missed the first time around. You see? Everybody wins.

One world. One love. Peace. Imagine. Hope.

Published February 16, 2015
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