Talking to a friend several months ago about a quote she had on her IM profile, which said Fuck is the new Wolf, I couldn’t help but make the following prediction: Sure, but Crystal is the new Fuck. I could not have been more right.

The New Year by The New Year (MySpace) opens with a lengthy, melancholy, minimal guitar strum. Somewhere toward the midpoint an organ chimes in softly. Then the momentum begins to build as the two-thirds mark nears; it is here we finally hear vocals on opening track “Folio”, but damnit, the wait was well worth it.