Album Review: Celebration by Celebration

The latest incarnation of Katrina Ford and Sean Antanaitis' ongoing musical collaboration (which stretches back to the chaos of their early-'90s noise-punk band Jaks and the only slightly more restrained gothic romance of Love Life), Celebration's self-titled debut album harks back to the dark, spiky, yet free-flowing post-punk with which 4AD originally made its name. Even if the music the pair makes now is slightly gentler than it was in the Jaks and Love Life years, it's still remarkably intense: Ford's deep, commanding, borderline androgynous voice draws apt comparisons to both Shirley Bassey and Diamanda Galás, and her ability to veer quickly from ferocious to sensual and back again remains effectively unsettling. Meanwhile, Antanaitis' various keyboards -- including carnival-esque organs and the guitorgan, a guitar/organ hybrid -- are an equally strong, dramatic force to be reckoned with.

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